*EPF303 01/02/2002
Judge Sets October Trial Date for Indicted Terror Suspect Moussaoui
(Suspect arraigned Jan. 2 in U.S. courthouse on not guilty plea) (520)

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A U.S. federal judge has set October 14, 2002, as the trial date for Zacarias Moussaoui -- a 33-year-old French citizen of Moroccan descent -- indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring with accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network to murder the more than 3,300 people that died when four hijacked jetliners crashed in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington on September 11, 2001.

Jury selection will begin on September 30, 2002.

Wearing a one piece dark green jumpsuit with the word "prisoner" on the back, the balding, bearded Moussaoui -- who holds a masters degree from a British university -- appeared under heavy guard at a January 2 arraignment hearing in a Virginia courtroom.

"In the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plea and enter no plea. Thank you very much," Moussaoui told U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema.

The judge said she presumed that he meant a plea of not guilty and Moussaoui's lawyer agreed.

Brinkema then entered not guilty pleas to each of the conspiracy charges against Moussaoui, and set the trial date.

A federal grand jury late last year indicted Moussaoui on six counts: Conspiracy to Commit Acts of Terrorism Transcending National Boundaries; Conspiracy to Commit Aircraft Piracy; Conspiracy to Destroy Aircraft; Conspiracy to Use Weapons of Mass Destruction; Conspiracy to Murder United States Employees; and Conspiracy to Destroy Property.

Four of the counts carry a maximum sentence of the death penalty, while the remaining two carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The prosecutors have until March 29 to decide whether they will seek the death penalty. In a move indicating that they will ask for death, the judge set a hearing for May 16 to consider arguments from both sides concerning the death penalty.

Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges in Minnesota before the September 11 attacks, after he aroused suspicion by trying to buy time on a Boeing 747 jet flight simulator at a flight school while not even having a pilot's license.

He was in custody when the attacks occurred, but the indictment alleges that he was engaged in the same preparation for murder as the 19 hijackers.

According to the indictment, Moussaoui received money in July and August from Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an alleged member of a German terrorist cell who was a roommate of Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader in the suicide attacks.

The indictment alleges that Moussaoui was present at the al Qaeda-affiliated Khalden Camp in Afghanistan "in or about April 1998" and alleges that during 2000 and 2001 his activities were closely tied to those of the hijackers -- that he, like they, took flight lessons, purchased flight training videos, and showed an interest in crop-dusting.

Moussaoui's mother, Aicha El Wafi, flew recently to the Washington, D.C., area and said she would fight to spare her son the death penalty. She did not attend the January 2 arraignment.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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