|
Moussaoui link to 911 in doubt Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-11-20-alqaeda-usat_x.htmhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-11-20-alqaeda-usat_x.htm
Moussaoui's link to 9/11 in doubt
By Toni Locy and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — U.S. investigators are not convinced they have enough evidence linking terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui to the Sept. 11 plot, despite an al-Qaeda operative's claim that Moussaoui met the mastermind of the attacks, government sources said Wednesday.
Since his capture in September in Pakistan, key al-Qaeda operative Ramzi Bin al-Shibh has connected Moussaoui, the only person charged in the USA in the Sept. 11 conspiracy, to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the senior al-Qaeda planner behind the attacks on New York and Washington. Bin al-Shibh, 30, a Yemeni who was a roommate in Germany of lead hijacker Mohamed Atta, has told interrogators that Moussaoui met with Mohammed in the winter of 2000-01, the sources said.
Bin al-Shibh's account, first reported by The Washington Post, indicated that he and Mohammed gave Moussaoui money and names of contacts in the USA. But sources told USA TODAY on Wednesday that the money was intended for use in other terrorist activities, not the Sept. 11 plot.
The nature of those plots remains unclear, but Bin al-Shibh's statements do appear to shed light on Moussaoui's relationship to al-Qaeda. Moussaoui, 34, a French citizen who attended a radical London mosque linked to al-Qaeda, was arrested in Minnesota on immigration charges less than a month before the Sept. 11 attacks. At the time, he was taking flight courses similar to those that several hijackers took and had raised suspicion by asking odd questions about flying.
Moussaoui is charged in the Sept. 11 conspiracy and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Since the attacks on New York and Washington, investigators have been trying to determine why Moussaoui came to the USA. Worried that they lack concrete evidence of a link between Moussaoui and the Sept. 11 plot, FBI agents have considered the possibility that he was sent here to carry out a separate attack.
Bin al-Shibh has told interrogators that he and Mohammed considered Moussaoui too volatile and untrustworthy to be involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Bin al-Shibh said they decided to use Moussaoui in the plot only as a last resort.
The government sources told USA TODAY that it is unclear what Moussaoui discussed with Mohammed. As a senior planner on al-Qaeda's military committee, Mohammed has been involved in a range of terrorist plots. Sources said investigators do not believe that Moussaoui had specific knowledge of the Sept. 11 plan.
The disclosures about Bin al-Shibh's interrogation emerged amid a furious tug of war between the Defense and Justice departments over whether Moussaoui's case should be moved from civilian court to a military tribunal. Military and CIA officials worry that if Moussaoui remains in civilian court, his attorneys might be allowed to question Bin al-Shibh about the U.S. government's interrogation methods.
In July, Moussaoui acknowledged in federal court that he is a member of al-Qaeda. But he insisted he was not part of the Sept. 11 plot and said he wanted to tell the American people why he came here. That seemed to suggest he was on another mission of terrorism, particularly when viewed in light of the hatred he has professed for the United States in court filings.
For federal prosecutors, linking Moussaoui to the Sept. 11 plot is key to obtaining a death sentence. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has signaled that she believes such a link is crucial.
Sources close to Moussaoui's court-appointed lawyers say Bin al-Shibh's statements play into their defense: that Moussaoui was too conspicuous to have been included in such a highly disciplined hijacking plot.
Defense Department officials have argued that transferring Moussaoui's case to a tribunal would eliminate any rights he has in civilian court to question Bin al-Shibh before trial. For Justice officials, letting go of the case would amount to an embarrassing admission that their evidence is weak.
Legal analysts said it is too late to move Moussaoui's case because he has been afforded rights in civilian courts for nearly a year. They said moving a troublesome case to a tribunal also would damage the credibility the White House has sought to build for the military justice system. Other analysts said the Justice Department has to live with its decision to indict Moussaoui last year without first discussing it with the Defense Department.
Washington lawyer Preston Burton, a former federal prosecutor, said moving the case to a military tribunal probably would upset U.S. allies. "From a global perspective and in future matters, I think it would be a public relations and diplomacy disaster," he said.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors are "preparing for trial. He (Moussaoui) will be afforded all the rights provided in a court of law."
Under federal death penalty law, the defense is entitled to interview government witnesses before trial. But Bin al-Shibh could refuse to cooperate. That could lead to a messy legal fight over whether the refusal is voluntary or the result of government pressure.
Sources said Justice lawyers would have to weigh whether to call Bin al-Shibh as a witness. If they did, they would be bringing a high-ranking terrorist into a civilian courtroom, creating significant security concerns.
Perhaps of more concern to U.S. intelligence officials is that defense attorneys would be able to ask Bin al-Shibh whether he had been tortured, where he was being held, who was questioning him and what else he had revealed to his interrogators.
Sources familiar with the Defense Department's position say officials there are confident that they will get the Moussaoui case, eventually. They say the complex issues raised by Bin al-Shibh's cooperation bolster that view. Defense officials "may have lost the battle internally for now," a source said. "But they're still in there swinging."
Contributing: John Diamond
Important dates in case
Key dates involving Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the Sept. 11 plot in the United States, and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an al-Qaeda operative who played a key role in the plot from Europe and was arrested two months ago in Pakistan:
May-October 2000: From Germany, Bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni, applies four times for a visa to enter the USA and is denied each time. At least three times, he wires money to members of the Sept. 11 hijack team who are already in the USA.
September 2000: Moussaoui goes to Kuala Lumpur and receives a reference letter and an e-mail account from a radical Muslim businessman who hosted the December meeting.
October 2000: Moussaoui returns to London and begins to e-mail U.S. flight schools, requesting information about pilot training. His e-mail moniker is "zulumantangotango."
December 2000: Moussaoui goes to Pakistan. U.S. government sources say he met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a high-ranking al-Qaeda figure believed to have masterminded the Sept. 11 plot. U.S. investigators believe Mohammed cut the throat of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped in Pakistan in January 2002 and then killed.
February 2001: Back in London, Moussaoui obtains new French passport free of Asian travel stamps. He later flies to Chicago and then travels to Oklahoma City to begin flight training. Three months later, he washes out of flight school.
July 2001: Bin al-Shibh attends what is believed to have been a meeting of Sept. 11 hijackers in Spain. He returns to Germany and uses the name Ahad Sabat to receive two wire transfers totaling $15,000 from United Arab Emirates. A few days later, again using the name Sabat, he wires $14,000 to Moussaoui in Oklahoma from train stations in Dusseldorf and Hamburg.
August 2001: Moussaoui enrolls in a flight school near Minneapolis. He's arrested there on immigration charges after his behavior, including a demand to learn to fly a jumbo jet, raises suspicion.
Sept. 5, 2001: Bin al-Shibh travels from Dusseldorf to Madrid and drops out of sight.
December 2001: In a six-count indictment, Moussaoui is accused of being part of the al-Qaeda conspiracy that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. Four charges carry death penalty.
Jan. 17, 2002: U.S. issues terror alert after a video made by Bin al-Shibh and others who warn of future attacks against the West is found in rubble of the home of al-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef. The home was bombed by U.S.-led forces.
June 2002: In an interview with Arab TV, Bin al-Shibh praises hijackers.
July 18, 2002: In U.S. court, Moussaoui says he is a member of al-Qaeda but was not involved in the Sept. 11 plot.
Sept. 11, 2002: Bin al-Shibh is captured in Pakistan. He now is being interrogated at an undisclosed location. Shortly after his arrest, Moussaoui and his court-appointed lawyers asked to interview Bin al-Shibh; Moussaoui claims the Yemeni could confirm that Moussaoui was not part of the Sept. 11 plot.
Reported by Toni Locy and Richard Willing, USA TODAY
|
|
