Moussaoui's lies led to 9/11 deaths-prosecutor

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By Deborah Charles
Mon Mar 6, 2006 10:28 PM GMT

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors argued on Monday that even though September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was in jail during the attacks he should be executed because his lies led directly to the deaths of 3,000 people.

But one of his court-appointed lawyers said that executing Moussaoui would only make him a martyr because many al Qaeda members only "live so that they can die."

Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, pleaded guilty in April to six counts, three of which carry the death penalty. The charges included conspiracy to commit terrorism.

"Please don't make him a hero," argued defence attorney Edward MacMahon in opening arguments at the trial to determine his sentence. "He just doesn't deserve it."

Moussaoui, 37, was arrested the month before the 2001 attacks after raising suspicions at a flight school and was in jail on September 11. Prosecutors said if he had not lied to investigators and told what he knew, the hijackings might have been averted.

"Even though he was in jail on September 11, 2001, Moussaoui did his part ... as a loyal al Qaeda soldier," said lead prosecutor Robert Spencer. "His lies permitted his al Qaeda brothers to go forward and that's what they did."

"Had Moussaoui just told the truth on September 11, 2001, it would all have been different," he said.

Moussaoui, dressed in a green prisoner's jumpsuit and a white cap, spent most of his time leaning back in his chair rubbing his long, bushy beard. In the past he has disrupted some court appearances, but this time he watched and took notes with little expression.

Earlier, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema seated 12 jurors and five alternates in the only trial to be held in the United States in connection with the attacks, which killed about 3,000 people.

The jury must first decide whether his actions led directly to at least one death on Sept 11. If the jury finds they do, then he can be executed, but if they find the opposite he would receive life in prison.

MacMahon, one of several court appointed attorneys who Moussaoui disdains, called the government's argument "entirely speculative."

"This trial cannot be viewed by you as jurors as part of the war on terror," he said. "We must give this man a fair trial no matter who he is, what he thinks of us and who he represents."

A few relatives of those who died on September 11 were in the court audience and others watched at special viewing rooms in Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and at the Alexandria courthouse.

At the Manhattan federal courthouse, Barry Zelman, 51, wearing a large badge with a picture of his brother who died in the World Trade Centre, said it would be hard watching Moussaoui and his trial

"There's going to be a lot of anger and a lot of emotion," Zelman said. "He's al Qaeda in the flesh."

"For most of us I hope it brings some peace and healing," said Eunice Hanson, who lost her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter on one of the planes that struck the trade centre. "It will be painful, very painful."

Brinkema said evidence from six enemy combatants may be presented during trial. The trial was delayed for years due to appeals over Moussaoui's demands for access to al Qaeda detainees he said could help his case.

The charges against Moussaoui were conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, commit aircraft piracy, destroy aircraft, use weapons of mass destruction, murder U.S. employees and destroy property.

Although he said he was not meant to be part of the September 11 attacks, he said Osama bin Laden had picked him to fly a plane into the White House as part of a broader conspiracy.