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Moussaoui Dismisses His Lawyers
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| Moussaoui
is being held in the Federal detention center in Alexandria,
Virginia
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WASHINGTON,
April 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - French national Zacarias
Moussaoui, who faces the death penalty for his alleged involvement in
the September 11 attacks, on Monday, April 22, dismissed his lawyers
and said he prayed for the destruction of the United States and
Israel, and prayed for Muslims fighting in Chechnya, India and
elsewhere.
As
a trial in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, set to
hear defense motions concerning conditions under which Moussaoui is
held, before arguments could be heard Moussaoui raised his hand and
said the government and his court-appointed attorneys were part of a
plan to execute him.
"These
lawyers are not any more my lawyers," he stated in English.
"The
United States will not have a trial without me," Moussaoui said.
"They only need me for the gas chamber."
"I
pray for the destruction of the United States of America…[for]
"the destruction of the Jewish people and state," he added.
Saying
he did not trust the lawyers, Moussaoui said he wanted a Muslim lawyer
and that if one was not available, he would represent himself, CNN
said.
Moussaoui
said he has more than $30,000 but has been unable to hire his own
attorney because the money has been frozen by presidential order, news
agencies reported.
In
response, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema called for Moussaoui to
undergo psychiatric evaluation and said she would not release his
lawyers until he was able to find another lawyer to represent him.
Moussaoui
is the first person to be charged in the United States in connection
with the September 11 attacks.
Investigators
believe Moussaoui was the missing 20th hijacker in those attacks.
Prosecutors allege Moussaoui underwent similar flight training in the
United States and weapons training in Afghanistan as the 19 hijackers
aboard the fatal flights.
The
33-year-old Frenchman has been charged with six counts of conspiracy,
including conspiracy to destroy aircraft, use weapons of mass
destruction and murder U.S. employees. His trial is to open October
14, 2002 in Alexandria.
Last
week, his lawyers had asked for improved conditions in the jail where
Moussaoui is being held, including access to computer equipment so he
can prepare for his upcoming trial. Monday’s hearing was to focus on
those motions.
The
attorneys said Moussaoui, in addition to having his phone calls
monitored, was being held under "overly restrictive and
oppressive" conditions which "create an insurmountable
impediment" to him.
Both
Moussaoui and American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh, 21, are
in near-total isolation in a 15-year-old jail a few miles from the
Pentagon, target of one of the hijacking attacks.
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