Only 9/11 Prisoner Will Admit Terror Role
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the US for the September 11 2001 terror attacks, was set to appear in court tomorrow to register a guilty plea.
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the US for the September 11 2001 terror attacks, was set to appear in court tomorrow to register a guilty plea.
In a notice issued by the US district court in Alexandria, Virginia, court officials yesterday said that the hearing was convened with the express purpose of entering a guilty plea from Mr Moussaoui, and so move forward on a case that has become an embarrassment to the Bush administration.
More than three years after the attacks, the administration has failed to bring any captured al-Qaida figures to trial.
In Mr Moussaoui's case, delays, legal wrangling and courtroom outbursts turned the test case into a bizarre spectacle - punctuated by the suspect's courtroom outbursts and volatile behaviour.
Mr Moussaoui's mental state was the prime consideration before the US district judge, Leonie Brinkema, who issued her decision following a one-hour private meeting with him yesterday morning.
The meeting was convened two weeks after Mr Moussaoui wrote to the judge, indicating that after more than 3 years in prison he was willing to plead guilty to conspiracy and terrorism - even though these carry the death penalty.
According to some reports, Mr Moussaoui's decision arose from his conviction that that would enable him to move immediately towards an appeal before the US supreme court. However, his court-appointed lawyers argue he is unfit to stand trial, and objected to his decision.
But, two years after stripping Mr Moussaoui of the right to conduct his own defence, Ms Brinkema evidently was persuaded that he was mentally competent.
It also appears that Ms Brinkema received assurances that Mr Moussaoui would not reverse his decision - as he did in 2002 when he withdrew a guilty plea after one week.
If he decides to stick with his decision and plead guilty tomorrow, he faces the very real possibility of a death sentence, since it is unlikely that prosecutors will relent on their demand for the ultimate penalty.
Mr Moussaoui, aged 36 and a French citizen of Moroccan extraction, was arrested a month before the September 11 2001 attacks. US prosecutors believe that he is the so-called 20th man, the missing hijacker who was to have joined the 19 others who commandeered the aircraft that flew into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
In a notice issued by the US district court in Alexandria, Virginia, court officials yesterday said that the hearing was convened with the express purpose of entering a guilty plea from Mr Moussaoui, and so move forward on a case that has become an embarrassment to the Bush administration.
More than three years after the attacks, the administration has failed to bring any captured al-Qaida figures to trial.
In Mr Moussaoui's case, delays, legal wrangling and courtroom outbursts turned the test case into a bizarre spectacle - punctuated by the suspect's courtroom outbursts and volatile behaviour.
Mr Moussaoui's mental state was the prime consideration before the US district judge, Leonie Brinkema, who issued her decision following a one-hour private meeting with him yesterday morning.
The meeting was convened two weeks after Mr Moussaoui wrote to the judge, indicating that after more than 3 years in prison he was willing to plead guilty to conspiracy and terrorism - even though these carry the death penalty.
According to some reports, Mr Moussaoui's decision arose from his conviction that that would enable him to move immediately towards an appeal before the US supreme court. However, his court-appointed lawyers argue he is unfit to stand trial, and objected to his decision.
But, two years after stripping Mr Moussaoui of the right to conduct his own defence, Ms Brinkema evidently was persuaded that he was mentally competent.
It also appears that Ms Brinkema received assurances that Mr Moussaoui would not reverse his decision - as he did in 2002 when he withdrew a guilty plea after one week.
If he decides to stick with his decision and plead guilty tomorrow, he faces the very real possibility of a death sentence, since it is unlikely that prosecutors will relent on their demand for the ultimate penalty.
Mr Moussaoui, aged 36 and a French citizen of Moroccan extraction, was arrested a month before the September 11 2001 attacks. US prosecutors believe that he is the so-called 20th man, the missing hijacker who was to have joined the 19 others who commandeered the aircraft that flew into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
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