Moussaoui says he lied to protect 9/11 plot

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Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday he lied to investigators when arrested in August 2001 because he wanted to let the attacks of Sept. 11 go forward.

“Yes, you can say that,” Moussaoui said when the prosecution asked if that was why he misled them. The statement was key to the government’s case that the attacks might have been averted if Moussaoui had been more cooperative following his arrest. He told the court he knew the attacks were coming some time after August 2001 and bought a radio so he could hear them unfold.

Asked by his lawyer why he signed his guilty plea in April as “the 20th hijacker,” Moussaoui replied: “Because everybody used to refer to me as the 20th hijacker and it was a bit of fun.” Nineteen men were involved in the attacks on New York in Washington in the worst act of terrorism ever on U.S. soil. Moussaoui testified calmly in his death penalty trial, but against his lawyers’ wishes.

His lawyers made a last attempt to stop him from getting on the stand, but failed. Defense attorney Gerald Zerkin argued that his client would not be a competent witness because he has contempt for the court, only recognizes Islamic law and therefore “the affirmation he undertakes would be meaningless.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12036777/