10:30am
WASHINGTON - US prosecutors said yesterday they would seek the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, saying the French citizen should be executed for the Sept. 11 hijacked aircraft attacks on America that killed some 3,000 people.
"The actions of defendant Zacarias Moussaoui resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 people from more than 15 countries" in "the largest loss of life resulting from a criminal act in the history of the United States," they said.
In approving the decision, US Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected pleas from the French Justice Ministry not to seek a death sentence for Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States for the Sept. 11 attacks.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said France regretted the decision. He said evidence collected in France against the 33-year-old Moussaoui, who is of Moroccan decent, cannot be used to condemn him to death.
But Vedrine said France would continue to cooperate with US authorities in the war against terror and in the investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.
Ashcroft, the top US law enforcement official who must approve all federal death penalty cases, accepted the recommendation of his prosecutors and said he authorised them to seek the death penalty if a jury finds Moussaoui guilty.
Prosecutors said Moussaoui on February 23, 2001, entered the United States, "where he then enjoyed the educational opportunities available in a free society, for the purpose of gaining specialised knowledge in flying an aircraft in order to kill as many American citizens as possible."
Prosecutors Paul McNulty and James Comey said in the eight-page court filing that Moussaoui "has demonstrated a lack of remorse for his criminal conduct".
Moussaoui's lawyer, Frank Dunham, blasted Ashcroft for holding a news conference, accusing him of trying to influence potential jurors.
"The attorney general knows exactly what he's doing. He's doing it deliberately and unethically," he said. "It can't just be a mistake. It's an intentional act to influence the jury pool."
Dunham said it will be difficult enough to select a fair and impartial jury from a community that includes the Pentagon, where one of the hijacked planes crashed on Sept. 11, without Ashcroft commenting about the case on television.
A Dec. 11 indictment accused Moussaoui of conspiring with Saudi-born Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network to carry out the three hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
US officials have said Moussaoui may have been preparing to be the 20th hijacker. The plane that crashed into the Pennsylvania field had only four hijackers on board while the other three planes carried five hijackers.
Dunham had no comment on the death penalty motion itself, saying he would respond in court with any objections that are due by April 18. The judge has scheduled a hearing on the death penalty for May 15.
Moussaoui's lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. His trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30 in Alexandria, Virginia, with jury selection.
Even before Ashcroft formally made his decision, prosecutors had begun interviewing relatives of the Sept. 11 victims and plan to select 30 of them to testify at any penalty phase about the crime's impact on them.
In Paris, French Justice Minister Marylise Lebranchu said France would continue judicial cooperation with the United States. "However, under no circumstances shall we transmit a piece of evidence if it could be used to back up a death sentence," she said.
France's Human Rights League and Magistrates' Union urged the government to stop all legal cooperation with the United States in the Moussaoui case.
In Miami for a naturalisation ceremony, Ashcroft acknowledged a number of nations around the world have reservations about the death penalty and do not participate in capital cases.
But he added, "We ask our counterparts in the international community to respect our sovereignty and we respect theirs and to the extent that they can cooperate and help us we welcome that cooperation and we respect their views."
Moussaoui's French lawyer, Francois Roux, condemned the death penalty decision. "The defence will fight to the end to avoid this barbaric punishment, which has no place in a great democratic nation."
Prosecutors McNulty and Comey said Moussaoui committed the alleged offences after "substantial planning and premeditation." They said he acted "in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner."
Ashcroft told the news conference the court filing listed numerous reasons, called aggravating factors, why he believes the death penalty was appropriate.
He cited "the impact of the crime on the thousands of victims".
- REUTERS
Story archives:
Links: Terror in America - the Sept 11 attacks
Timeline: Major events since the Sept 11 attacks
US seeks to execute Moussaoui over September 11
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