No Moussaoui 'shoe bomber' link

BBC
Apr. 21, 2006

Al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui's trial has heard there was no evidence to back his claim he planned a 9/11 attack with "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

The FBI concluded there was no evidence that Reid had prior knowledge of 9/11, or that al-Qaeda had told him to work with Moussaoui, a statement said.

Defence lawyers want jurors at Moussaoui's sentencing trial to spare his life, saying he is mentally ill.

The defence lawyers at the trial in Virginia have now closed their case.

British-born Richard Reid was sentenced to life in prison in January 2003 after being found guilty of trying to blow up an airliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Moussaoui testified last month that he and Reid had been due to hijack a fifth plane and fly it into the White House on 11 September 2001. Some 3,000 people died in the four attacks.

But a written statement, based on interviews with Reid and written by FBI analysts, on Thursday said he had had no advance knowledge of the 9/11 attacks.

The statement drew no objections from the prosecution.
The document also said that Reid had bequeathed his belongings to Moussaoui, whom he met in Afghanistan, noting that, in the FBI's view, he would not have done this if they had been destined for the same "martyrdom" operation.

It said the FBI had information linking Reid to a different operation, which was the attempt he made in December 2001 to blow up an airliner from Paris to Miami.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for Moussaoui, saying his "lies" in jail before the attacks kept federal agents from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.

After the defence closed, prosecutors countered with evidence from a psychiatrist who said Moussaoui did not suffer from schizophrenia - as alleged by the defence.

Earlier, the court heard testimony from families of 9/11 victims opposed to executing Moussaoui.

Moussaoui's lawyers called more than a dozen relatives to counter testimony by other victims' relatives who appeared for the prosecution.

Marilynn Rosenthal, who lost her son Josh in the attack on the World Trade Center, said her family did not want to "get caught in a whirlpool of sadness and anger".

Witnesses on either side are prohibited from giving their opinions on what sentence Moussaoui should face when jurors begin their deliberations next week.

Moroccan-born Moussaoui is the only person tried in the US in connection with the attacks on New York and Washington.