Moussaoui Prosecutor Calls for Death Penalty

Jurors in the trial of the September 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui were told today to "put an end to his hatred and venom" by giving him the death penalty.

"Let me be blunt, ladies and gentlemen," said prosecutor David Raskin. "There is no place on this good earth for Zacarias Moussaoui."

Moussaoui, who became the only person to be convicted over the attacks in the US after he pleaded guilty to all charges against him, shouted to jurors as they left for a break.

"You'll never get me, America. Never ever," he said.

Mr Raskin told the court that Moussaoui had shown no compassion for the victims of the attacks.

Several dozen relatives of the victims have appeared in court during the trial to support the death penalty for Moussaoui in often tearful testimony.

"The defendant rejoices in all that pain. He told you that himself," Mr Raskin said. "He loved it because he was responsible for it. He loved it because it meant to him, mission accomplished."

Around a dozen relatives of victims were also in court to oppose the death penalty, although they were forbidden from explicitly requesting a life sentence and merely told the court that they did not think vengeance was the answer.

Following the release on appeal of the alleged German conspirator Mounir el Motassadeq in 2004, Moroccan-born Moussaoui is the only person in the world facing formal punishment for direct involvement in the bombings.

Ramzi Binalshibh, who is thought to be one of the key architects of the attacks, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 but has never been put before a court and is being held in a secret location by the US government.

Moussaoui's guilty plea has meant that the minimum sentence available to the court is life imprisonment, and his defence team will argue against the death penalty in a hearing later today.

He was arrested over immigration violations in August 2001 after a tip-off from a flight school where he was taking lessons, and was in prison at the time of the September 11 attacks.

But the jury has ruled that he could face the death penalty after evidence was presented showing that he was responsible for at least one death because lies he had told to federal agents on his arrest had allowed the plot to continue undetected.