US to Seek Death Penalty for Terror Suspect

The US government is to seek the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person to be charged in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington. Mr Moussaoui, 33, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, is charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden, the hijackers and others to commit the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. The trial of the so-called "20th hijacker" is to begin on September 30. Four of the six counts brought against Mr Moussaoui carry a maximum sentence of death.

The submission said: "The defendant, Zacarias Moussaoui, intentionally participated in an act contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used ... and the victims died as a direct result of the act."

The document charged that Mr Moussaoui engaged in an act of violence "knowing that the act created a grave risk of death to a person" and that "the crime constituted a reckless disregard for human life".

The attorney general, John Ashcroft, a strong supporter of the death penalty, was in Miami when the government made its court filing. He has in recent weeks steadfastly declined to discuss publicly his deliberations with other top justice officials on whether to seek the death penalty.

Mr Moussaoui's home country, France, had asked Mr Ashcroft not to seek the death penalty, noting that judicial agreements between the two nations would exempt France from having to cooperate with the US authorities on the investigation if capital punishment were involved. France has long opposed the death penalty.

Last weekend, Mr Ashcroft said the death penalty was an appropriate possibility for "people who are part of a conspiracy and do everything they can to advance the conspiracy to kill Americans". He has previously described Mr Moussaoui as an "active participant" in the September 11 attacks.

The government said in its court filing that it would seek to prove that Mr Moussaoui committed the offences "in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner in that they involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victims".

The offences were committed "after substantial planning and premeditation to cause the death of a person and to commit an act of terrorism," the government argued.

It noted that before his arrest Mr Moussaoui attended US flight schools and "enjoyed the educational opportunities available in a free society, for the purpose of gaining specialised knowledge in flying an aircraft in order to kill as many American citizens as possible."