Moussaoui says he was to be part of 9/11 attacks

By Deborah Charles

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) – Zacarias Moussaoui said on
Monday he was supposed to fly a fifth airplane into the White
House as part of the September 11 plot and he knew that two
planes were to fly into the World Trade Center in New York.

Taking the stand at his death penalty trial, Moussaoui —
the only person charged in the United States in connection with
the September 11 attacks — said “shoebomber” Richard Reid was
to join him as part of the crew in the suicide mission.

Reid failed in attempt to blow up an American Airlines
plane from Paris to Miami in December 2001 after passengers and
crew tackled him as he tried to ignite explosives in his shoe.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2003.

Moussaoui’s claim contradicted what he said last year in
pleading guilty, that he was not supposed to be part of the
September 11 hijackings but was meant to be in a second wave of
attacks and fly an airplane into the White House.

Moussaoui said he did not know the precise date of the
planned attacks when he was arrested in Minnesota on August 16,
2001, and had only scant details of the overall plan.

“I had knowledge that the two towers would be hit but I
didn’t have the detail,” Moussaoui said.

Moussaoui is on trial now to determine if he will be
executed.

Asked by Gerald Zerkin, one of his court-appointed
attorneys, if he was meant to be part of the September 11
attacks, Moussaoui said: “I was supposed to pilot a plane to
hit the White House.”

Moussaoui, who appeared very calm and spoke in a matter of
fact manner, said he was asked in 1999 if he wanted to be a
suicide pilot in an attack on the United States but he
initially declined.

He agreed to take part in the plan in 2000 after having a
dream, which he talked about with Osama bin Laden.

Moussaoui said he had not seen any of the other hijackers
in the United States.