[Mb-civic] Moussaoui Says He Was to Fly 5th Plane - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Moussaoui Says He Was to Fly 5th Plane
White House Attack Planned for 9/11, Terrorist Testifies

By Jerry Markon and Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 28, 2006; A01

Zacarias Moussaoui took the stand at his death penalty trial yesterday 
and declared that he was supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 
11, 2001, and crash it into the White House in the terrorist attacks 
that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The al-Qaeda operative said his role was to head a five-man crew that 
included Richard Reid, the British citizen who later tried to set off 
explosives in his shoes aboard a transatlantic flight. Moussaoui said 
that his orders came from Osama bin Laden and that his plan was foiled 
by his arrest in August 2001.

"I was supposed to pilot a plane to hit the White House," Moussaoui told 
a riveted federal courtroom in Alexandria. "I only knew about the two 
planes of the World Trade Center in addition to my own plane."

His words were as stunning as the way in which he delivered them. When 
he pleaded guilty to conspiring with al-Qaeda last year, Moussaoui 
denied involvement in Sept. 11 and insisted that he was to be part of a 
second wave of attacks. He then launched into one of his rambling 
courtroom outbursts, ending it by screaming, "God curse America!"

The familiar Moussaoui was gone yesterday. In his place was a hardened 
terrorist operative who spoke calmly and methodically, looking straight 
at his questioners as he voiced his hatred for the nation that had put 
him on trial for his life. "I consider every American to be my enemy," 
Moussaoui, 37, said as jurors leaned forward in their seats. "For me, 
every American is going to want my death because I want their death."

The extraordinary spectacle of an admitted al-Qaeda member testifying 
about the deadliest terrorist attack in American history was later 
matched by something equally unusual. Defense lawyers read into the 
record evidence gathered in the United States' secret and controversial 
detention system, telling jurors what Khalid Sheik Mohammed, a key 
planner of Sept. 11, would have said had he taken the stand.

And Mohammed's words, given to interrogators at the undisclosed location 
where he is being held, contradicted Moussaoui's testimony.

He said Moussaoui had been slated for a second wave of attacks that 
would have included targets not hit on Sept. 11, such as the White House 
and the Sears Tower in Chicago. Mohammed noted that the Sept. 11 attacks 
on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon proceeded on schedule despite 
Moussaoui's arrest while taking flying lessons in Minnesota.

Even if Moussaoui's precise role is never certain, what was clear 
yesterday was the damage that his testimony, given over the strenuous 
objections of his lawyers, had done to his defense. Under 
cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer, 
Moussaoui admitted to the government's primary argument for his 
execution -- that he lied to the FBI after his arrest to allow the Sept. 
11 attacks to go forward.

Moussaoui acknowledged that he did not know the exact date of the 
attacks but that he knew they were to take place just after August. He 
learned of the attacks while listening to the radio while in jail in 
Minnesota, and "I immediately understood," he testified.

Moussaoui said he lied "because I wanted my mission to go ahead," adding 
that he "never told them anything about the operation."

"You hid that from them. You concealed it, right?" Spencer asked.

"Indeed," Moussaoui replied.

Legal experts said those admissions, combined with Moussaoui's chilling 
demeanor in court, probably would resonate with the jury, which is 
expected to begin deliberating this week on whether he is eligible for 
the death penalty. If jurors found him eligible, a second phase of the 
hearing would determine whether Moussaoui should be executed.

"It sounds like he's toast," said Eric Muller, a former federal 
prosecutor who teaches at the University of North Carolina. "The 
prosecution's best hope was to make him appear scary rather than crazy. 
It sounds like he was really scary."

Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert who is senior adviser to the president 
of the Rand Corp., said Moussaoui "has destroyed much of his defense. He 
has gone as far as he possibly can to make the prosecution's case."

That case had appeared troubled only days ago. Prosecutors were 
embarrassed by the misconduct of a government lawyer, Carla J. Martin, 
who improperly coached witnesses. Moussaoui's attorneys unearthed 
government documents that showed in new detail how the FBI had ignored 
repeated warnings from its own agents that Moussaoui was a terrorist who 
wanted to hijack an airplane.

Before Moussaoui took the stand, his attorneys, with whom he does not 
speak, tried to block his testimony. One, Gerald T. Zerkin, said 
Moussaoui does not recognize the court's authority and, "as an al-Qaeda 
member, he believes it is okay to lie."

But prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema to let him 
speak. Brinkema agreed, acknowledging that Moussaoui "had expressed his 
disdain of the United States" but had promised to behave in court.

Asked by a court clerk to raise his right hand and promise to tell the 
truth, Moussaoui stood motionless. He then told Brinkema he understood 
that he was required to speak truthfully, and he was allowed to take the 
stand.