Death Penalty Call for Man Who 'could Have Stopped 9/11'

Lawyers for the US government yesterday demanded the death penalty in the trial of a man they said could have chosen to prevent the September 11 attacks.

Zacarias Moussaoui, the 37-year-old French citizen whose previous court appearances have been rowdy affairs, sat quietly during the opening of the sentencing phase of his trial in Alexandria, Virginia, scrutinising the jury who must decide whether he is to be executed or imprisoned for life.

"He lied so the plot could proceed unimpeded," prosecuting attorney Rob Spencer told the court. "With that lie, he caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. He rejoiced in the death and destruction. Had Moussaoui just told the truth, it would all have been different."

As relatives of those killed on September 11 watched on a network of closed-circuit TVs across the eastern US, Mr Spencer described "a loyal al-Qaida soldier" who had detailed foreknowledge of the attacks. But Moussaoui's defence team - who were appointed by the court, and whom he refuses to recognise - instead painted a picture of a fantasist who knew nothing of 9/11, and whose self-confessed dreams of launching other terrorist attacks were miles beyond his capability. "That is Zacarias Moussaoui in a nutshell," defence lawyer Edward MacMahon said. "Sound and fury, signifying nothing."

To achieve the death penalty, the prosecution will have to convince the jury that Moussaoui had prior knowledge of September 11. The only person to be charged in the US in connection with the atrocities, Moussaoui originally protested his innocence, prompting a series of court hearings in which he demanded access to classified papers, asked to call captured al-Qaida members as witnesses, and peppered judge Leonie Brinkema with notes filled with insults directed at his lawyers.

Then, last April, he pleaded guilty to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack planes and commit other crimes - but he continues to maintain his plans were unrelated to September 11. He says he planned to hijack a 747 in order to free Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind sheikh being held in US custody. His confession rendered earlier wrangling irrelevant, and means the jury must decide only his sentence.

A total of 83 potential jurors were whittled down by the defence and prosecution to 17 - 10 men and seven women, five of whom will be stand-bys. They include a veteran of the first Gulf War, and an Iranian Sunni Muslim. Moussaoui, who holds a master's degree from South Bank University in London, had been arrested in 2001, in connection with immigration violations, after staff at a flight training school reported his suspicious behaviour to the FBI.

The prosecution's argument is that he could have alerted authorities to the coming attacks. Moussaoui's combative attitude towards his lawyers appeared to have quelled yesterday. He remained silent during the morning's session.