Apparent Reversal Of Earlier Testimony May Mean Death Penalty

It was a stunning revelation. On Monday, Zacarias Moussaoui took the stand at his death penalty trial, and declared he was to hijack a fifth airliner on September 11, 2001 and fly the plane into the White House.

"I was supposed to pilot a plane to hit the White House," Moussaoui said from the stand in an Alexandria, VA federal courtroom. "I only knew about the two planes of the World Trade Center in addition to my own plane."

As Moussaoui's defense attorneys -- who had protested their client taking the stand -- looked on, the confessed al-Qaeda member told the stunned court he was to head a five-man crew that also included Richard Reid, the British citizen who later tried to set off explosives in his shoes aboard a trans-Atlantic flight.

His role in the terrorist attacks, Moussaoui said, was foiled by his arrest in August 2001.

With the revelation, Moussaoui unraveled his own defense lawyers' argument -- that while their client has admitted to being a terrorist conspirator, he was not connected to the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui himself had denied involvement in the attacks last year, while pleading guilty to conspiring with al-Qaeda.

Almost as shocking as Moussaoui's testimony was his demeanor. Gone was the familiar, defiant Moussaoui, prone to uncontrolled outbursts before the jury. In his place Monday, the Seattle Times reported, was a quiet, defiant terrorist, who looked his enemies square in the face and said he wished to kill them.

"I consider every American to be my enemy," Moussaoui said. "For me, every American is going to want my death because I want their death."

In an attempt to salvage their argument, defense attorneys were put into the awkward position of denying their own client's testimony. The lawyers read evidence gathered from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, a key planner of the 9/11 attacks who is now detained by the US at an undisclosed location.

Mohammed's words, given to interrogators, indicate Moussaoui was to be a part of the second wave of attacks, to include targets not hit on 9/11 -- not for the primary wave of attacks.

Nevertheless, the impact of Moussaoui's words Monday can't be ignored -- as he admitted to the government's primary argument for his execution, that he lied to authorities in August 2001 so the September 11 attacks would proceed.

Moussaoui said he lied "because I wanted my mission to go ahead," adding that he "never told them anything about the operation."

"You hid that from them. You concealed it, right?" asked Assistant US Attorney Robert Spencer.

"Indeed," Moussaoui replied.

Legal experts told the Times those admissions, combined with Moussaoui's steely demeanor in court Monday, would likely resonate with the jurors who are expected to begin deliberations on Moussaoui's fate this week. If jurors find him eligible for the death penalty, a second phase of the hearing would determine whether he should be executed.

Asked by defense attorney Gerald Zerkin whether being put to death by an American court would make him a martyr, Moussaoui said "I believe in destiny. ... What I'm doing now is just to speak the truth, and God will take care of the rest."

FMI: www.usdoj.gov