Moussaoui Seek to Defend Self, Calls for the Destruction of the US

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 23, 2002

Moussaoui Seek to Defend Self, Calls for the Destruction of the US

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Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man charged with conspiracy in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, called Monday for the destruction of the United States and Israel in his first extensive public comments since his arrest. He urged a federal judge to allow him to fire his court-appointed defense lawyers and represent himself.

"America, I am ready to fight," said Mr. Moussaoui, who was arrested in August and has been accused by federal authorities of being the "20th hijacker" in the attacks.

A hearing that was supposed to focus on Mr. Moussaoui's prison conditions took a startling turn when the 33-year-old French citizen raised his hand almost immediately after entering a courtroom here and, in a 50-minute discourse on Islam and what he described as a corrupt American justice system, accused his lawyers of joining in a conspiracy to see him executed.

"They have no understanding of terrorism, Muslims, mujahadeen," he said in heavily accented English. "They are not my attorneys, and this point is clear. I believe they are experienced. They are experienced in deception." He said he was prepared to represent himself.

As his three lawyers looked on, occasionally shaking their heads in what appeared to be exasperation, Mr. Moussaoui also spoke out against several countries, including the United States, Israel and Russia, saying he was praying to Allah for "the destruction of the United States of America" and for the "destruction of the Jewish people and state."

The judge in the case, Leonie Brinkema of federal court in Alexandria, which is near the Pentagon, said that she was ready to allow Mr. Moussaoui to serve as his own lawyer if he submitted to a examination by a psychiatrist who found that he was mentally competent.

But she urged him to reconsider, and she said she would keep the defense team in place to serve as a backup if he were found incapable of defending himself against charges that he conspired with Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. "If you don't want to talk to them, it's at your own risk," she said.

With his remarks today, Mr. Moussaoui, who was born in France and lived for several years in Britain, appeared to embrace the government's description of him as a Muslim extremist who supported Mr. bin Laden's call for the destruction of the United States. Quoting frequently from the Koran, Mr. Moussaoui said that his trial amounted to a struggle between Muslims and "pagans, Jews, Christians and hypocrites."

Source: Agencies

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