The Case Against Moussaoui: Internal Doubts
Evidence against the 20th hijacker mostly circumstantial
by Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
August 5, 2002 issue
http://www.msnbc.com/news/786612.asp
Attorney General John Ashcroft was about to announce the U.S. governments biggest legal victory yet in the war on terrorism last weekuntil events in an Alexandria, Va., courtroom brought the well-laid plans to an abrupt halt.
Expecting Zacarias Moussaoui to plead guilty to charges of involvement in the
9-11 conspiracy to blow up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Ashcroft
aides were busily crafting a celebratory statement. The idea was for the A.G.
to break off from a party dedicating a new Justice Department courtyard and
then read the proclamation for the TV camerasjust in time for the network
news.
But the erratic Moussaoui put a damper on the festivities when he suddenly withdrew
his guilty plea after U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema told him he had to admit direct
participation in the 9-11 plot. This, Moussaoui said, he couldnt do because
of his obligation toward my creator, Allah. Now the case will go
to trial Sept. 30. Justice officials say they are confident it wont change
the outcome. Our guys are ready to go, said one. But privately,
some lawyers familiar with the evidenceincluding a few law-enforcement
officialsare not so sure.
Brinkema last week appeared to adopt arguments submitted in secret by Moussaouis
court-appointed lawyers that merely showing Moussaoui was a member of Al Qaeda
and wanted to harm Americans is not enough to convict.
Can the government make the case? Sources familiar with tens of thousands of
classified FBI documents that have been assembled for the case tell NEWSWEEK
theres nothing that shows Moussaoui ever had contact with any of the 9-11
hijackers. Some documents even suggest internal FBI doubts over whether Moussaoui
really was supposed to be the 20th hijacker, as Justice officials
have suggested. There was a lot of skepticism about this case, said
one high-level source. Moussaoui has openly admitted his allegiance to Al Qaeda,
and prosecutors do have some compelling circumstantial evidence: Moussaoui received
$14,000 in money orders from Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a fugitive Qaeda operative
and former roommate of hijacker ringleader Mohamed Atta, in August 2001. The
money arrived just weeks before Moussaoui was arrested when instructors at a
Minneapolis flight school reported his suspicious interest in learning to steer
large jetliners. But, backed by a team of more than 50 assistants, Moussaouis
lawyers have been crafting a circumstantial counterargument: while the other
hijackers met repeatedly with each other, Moussaoui is conspicuously absent
from any of their gatherings. Its like the reverse of Wheres
Waldo? said lawyer Ed MacMahon. One big problem, though: Moussaoui,
convinced that his own lawyers are out to kill him, refuses to talk to them
and insists on representing himself. So far, Brinkema has agreed to let him
try. Unless the judge changes her mind, some lawyers say, Moussaouis legal
incompetencerather than the evidencemay be the governments
strongest card.
© 2002 Newsweek, Inc.
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