'20th hijacker' hits out at his lawyer

Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th hijacker", launched a fresh attack on his state-appointed lawyer in a pleading in Virginia yesterday which was revealed after the judge partially lifted a gag order banning the publication of the defendant's vociferous and frequently bizarre court motions.

Mr Moussaoui, who was assessing his likely fate if he were to allow Frank Dunham to represent him, wrote: "I have more chance to live if I load bullet in 38mm and play Russian rullet [sic]."

He added: "After all the gun can jam, but Dunham will not miss the opportunity to send me to heaven."

Judge Leonie Brinkema imposed the gag order at the end of August in response to a spate of motions by Mr Moussaoui which she described as containing "irrelevant, inflammatory and insulting rhetoric". They called for the eradication of Jews from the Middle East, praised Osama bin Laden, and labelled Ms Brinkema a Nazi and "the death judge" - or sometimes "DJ" for short.

Prosecutors suggested he might be using the documents to communicate with sympathisers. They have said they will seek the death penalty if Mr Moussaoui, who is due to go on trial on January 6, is convicted of a terrorism offence in connection with the attacks on September 11.

But this week the judge ruled that Mr Moussaoui, a 34-year-old French citizen of Moroccan descent, had avoided such incendiary rhetoric in recent writings, though several sentences of his latest motion were censored.

She has still to rule on a motion by several media organisations asking for all his motions to be made public after the government has had a chance to review them.

"Dunham still does not understand that suicide is forbidden in Islam and to give him my case is 'certain' death," Mr Moussaoui wrote, demanding: "This motion must be publish. You have no false excuse to gagg me any longer [sic]."

He said Mr Dunham was playing a "dirty trick", withholding information, failing to investigate crucial aspects of the case, and preventing the defendant from accessing the law firm's website.

There had been logistical problems with allowing Mr Moussaoui access to the site from jail, Mr Dunham's firm said. The judge has barred him from accessing any other website.