WASHINGTON, 20 October 2003 — The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has concluded that Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, was not involved in the strikes, Time magazine reported yesterday.
The news weekly, in its edition appearing today, quotes unidentified sources as saying the FBI has long believed that the Moroccan-born Frenchman “played no part in the 9/11 scheme and was only a minor player in Al-Qaeda.”
Moussaoui was detained by US authorities on an immigration violation less than a month before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Jailed in Virginia while awaiting trial, he has acknowledged membership in Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network but has repeatedly denied the government’s charges that he was to have taken part in the Sept. 11 attacks. Because of the government’s refusal to allow Moussaoui to interview captured members of Al-Qaeda, a US district Judge, Leonie Brinkema, has barred prosecutors from alleging that Moussaoui was linked to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Moussaoui has argued that the captured Al-Qaeda members could provide evidence that he was not involved in the Sept. 11 plot.
The government’s case against Moussaoui rests largely on proving the connection with the Sept. 11 attacks and prosecutors are appealing the judge’s ruling.
