Moussaoui was supposed to team with Shoe Bomber Richard Reid to hijack a fifth airliner to hit the White House. Moussaoui testified yesterday in his own defense. Here is the story:Zacarias Moussaoui, who is facing the death penalty for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, took the witness stand in his own defense Monday, testifying that he had been training to fly another plane into the White House and that he was to have been accompanied on the suicidal mission by Richard C. Reid, the so-called shoe bomber who was later convicted in a separate failed attempt to blow up a plane in flight.
Moussaoui also said he knew in advance of al-Qaida's plans to fly jetliners into the World Trade Center buildings. Although he had said over the past few years that he was a member of al-Qaida and was learning to fly a plane to participate in some "second wave" of terrorist attacks, until now he had always insisted that he knew little of the September 11 plot.
But when he began his long-awaited testimony, he offered a lengthy description of a far deeper involvement with al-Qaida and its plots. Not only was he a member of the terror network, he told the jury, he said that he knew most of the September 11 hijackers, admitted that he lied to investigators about his knowledge of their plot when he was arrested on immigration violations three weeks before the attacks on New York and Washington, and recounted that he was ecstatic when, still behind bars, he heard the news of the devastating attacks on a radio he had bought just for that purpose.
Now, later in the story, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is heard from, saying Moussaoui was never meant to be a pilot. Of course, this could all be some al Queda ruse to confuse investigators and authorities. It was an amazing revelation, and we shall see what this testimony does for Moussaoui and others. Check out the whole read, and stay tuned.
