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March 8, 2006
US: Muslim Conspirator Of 9/11 Was Drugged In Court, Claims Mother
Today, the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui entered its third day. Moussaoui pleaded guilty on April 22 last year of conspiracy charges, related to the attacks of September 11th, 2001, which cost the lives of 3,000 innocents.
The sentencing hearing is being held in Alexandria, Virginia, and will determine if Moussaoui will be given a life sentence or the death penalty. AP via MSNBC and the Washington Post detail the day's proceedings.
Faiz Bafana, a member of southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, was shown in a videotape, which was shown to the court. He said that a man matching Moussaoui's description who called himself "John" had met him at his home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in mid 2000 (1999 according to AP).
Singapore-born Bafana said that this man had claimed that he had had a dream of flying a plane into the White House, and that he had informed the Sheikh (Osama bin Laden), who had told "John" to "go ahead."
Bafana had made the taped statement in November 2000, while in custody in Singapore. In the video, Moussaoui is shown cross-examining Bafana, who is adamant that the man he spoke to was Moussaoui himself.
In the conversation with "John", Bafana claimed he had said it was important to "bring down America".
Bafana claimed that after the meeting, John/Moussaoui had requested $10,000 to "contact some brothers in Europe." Some money was given to him, on the orders of Hambali (Naujaman Riduan Isamuddin), the Malaysian-born lead strategist of Jemaah Islamiyah at that time. The amount given was the equivalent of $1,200.
AP and Jurist's Paperchase state that "John" wanted the money to fund flight training in the United States.
The Washington Post and AP note that yesterday, under cross-examination, FBI agents admitted that years before 9/11/2001, they knew Al Qaeda was sending individuals on flight training in the US.
Indonesia's counterterrorism task force has recently claimed that Bafana's group, Jemaah Islamiyah, is funded directly by Al Qaeda.
It is known that subsequent to this meeting in 2000, Moussaoui had involvement with the Finsbury Park Mosque, run by Abu Hamza, who was jailed a month ago.
Yesterday, Agence France Presse reported in Expatica that Moussaoui's mother was in court yesterday, and was shocked at her son's demeanour.
59-year old Aicha el-Wafi had travelled from her home in France to be at her son's trial, but said yesterday: "That is not Zacary. He is too calm. He doesn't even budge. It's another Zac. I believe, in this moment, he has been drugged, in order for him to be calm and not disturb anybody."
She has not seen Moussaoui since July 2002, but during the entire day's proceedings, despite glancing at the public, he never made eye contact with his mother or looked towards her.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 8, 2006 8:36 PM
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