ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - US Lawyers for a defiant Zacarias Moussaoui said on Wednesday he pleaded not guilty to conspiring with Osama bin Laden to murder thousands of people - the first charges filed in the September 11 attacks on America.
US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema said the trial will begin in the federal courthouse in Alexandria on October 14.
Flanked by two guards and dressed in a green jumpsuit with the word "Prisoner" on back, Moussaoui, a 33-year-old French citizen of Moroccan descent, stood briefly to address the court during his arraignment.
"In the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plead. I enter no plea. Thank you very much," a bearded Moussaoui said in accented English.
Brinkema said she understood that to be a plea of not guilty and one of Moussaoui's court-appointed defence attorneys, Frank Dunham, said "Yes. That is correct."
Moussaoui was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 11 on six counts of conspiracy, four of which carry a possible death penalty. The indictment accused Moussaoui of conspiring with Saudi-born dissident bin Laden and his al Qaeda network to kill thousands of people on Sept. 11.
On Sept. 11 Moussaoui was already being held by US officials on immigration charges. He was detained on Aug. 16 in Minnesota after officials at a flying school where he was training became suspicious.
After Sept. 11 Moussaoui was arrested as a material witness and sent to New York before coming to Virginia to face trial. Jurors in Virginia are considered to be more supportive of the death penalty than those in New York, legal experts say.
After his brief comments to the court, Moussaoui slouched in his chair at the defence table, sitting silently and staring straight ahead as the discussions continued around him.
Though the plea was entered in just minutes, court remained in session for another half hour to discuss dates for the trial and various pretrial motions and arguments.
Despite proposals from Moussaoui's attorneys to delay the trial until February 2003, Brinkema granted a request by federal prosecutor Robert Spencer to begin the trial on Oct. 14 and to start selecting a jury on Sept. 30.
She dismissed an argument by the defence that under that timeline, many prospective jurors might be influenced by the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Brinkema also offered additional resources if the defence needs translators or more lawyers to be ready in time for the trial.
The US government has until March 29 to say whether it plans to seek the death penalty for Moussaoui.
Security was tight at the federal courthouse, located just about three kilomters from the Pentagon which was seriously damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Moussaoui arrived at the courthouse before dawn, nearly four hours before the hearing began, in a small convoy of sport utility vehicles with armed guards.
Francois Roux, lawyer for Moussaoui's mother, Aicha el-Wafi, said she decided not to attend the hearing.
"She decided it would be too difficult for her to see her son at the hearing. She was very upset and she thinks if she came this morning she would have disturbed her son at this important judicial moment," he told reporters.
El-Wafi, who arrived last week and proclaimed her son's innocence but did not visit him because she was told an FBI agent must be present, was to leave for France later on Wednesday.
Roux welcomed the fact the start of trial was not until October, saying it was important for Moussaoui's attorneys to have time to prepare for this "very difficult trial."
The Dec. 11 indictment accused Moussaoui of conspiring with the 19 hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,300 people.
Moussaoui was charged with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, to commit aircraft piracy, to destroy aircraft, to use weapons of mass destruction, to murder US employees and to destroy property.
US officials have said Moussaoui may have been preparing to be a member of one of the hijacking teams. The plane that crashed into the Pennsylvania field had only four hijackers on board while the other three planes had five hijackers.
President Bush considered having Moussaoui tried by a military tribunal but in the end decided the case could be heard by the traditional court system without jeopardising national security.
Military tribunals are one of a series of new measures implemented by the US government as it seeks to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. So far 116 people have been charged with federal criminal violations since Sept. 11 and 460 people have been detained on immigration violations and are being investigated for possible terrorist connections.
- REUTERS
Story archives:
Links: Terror in America - the Sept 11 attacks
Timeline: Major events since the Sept 11 attacks
Defiant Moussaoui pleads not guilty on Sept. 11 charges
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