'Hijacker' prosecutors seek death

WASHINGTON -- Prosecutors told a federal court Thursday that they will seek the death penalty against suspected al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui in connection with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, even though he was in jail on Sept. 11 and apparently had no direct links to any of the 19 hijackers.

The 33-year-old French citizen deserves to die, prosecutors alleged in a much-awaited court filing, because his actions in support of the terrorist attacks were "heinous, cruel and depraved" and contributed to the deaths of more than 3,000 people and the destruction of billions of dollars in property.

The novel decision, which experts said stretches the limits of legal theory in capital cases, sparked immediate protests from death penalty opponents and deepened a diplomatic rift between the United States and Moussaoui's native country, France, which banned capital punishment in 1981 and appealed to Washington two weeks ago not to seek Moussaoui's execution.

French Justice Minister Marylise Lebranchu said Thursday that she regretted Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to reject the French plea. She said that while France will continue to cooperate in the U.S. probe into the Sept. 11 attacks, "under no circumstances" would it turn over evidence that could be used to press a death sentence against Moussaoui.

Ashcroft, a strong supporter of the death penalty, said he would not be swayed by foreign sentiment on an issue so crucial to American security.

"We ask our counterparts in the international community to respect our sovereignty, and we respect theirs," he said in announcing his decision on the Moussaoui death penalty issue.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in the United States with aiding in the Sept. 11 attacks, and his trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., scheduled to begin in October, promises to be the government's fullest airing of how the plot was carried out.

The FBI suspects that Moussaoui was supposed to be "the 20th hijacker" had he not been arrested in Minnesota last August after his odd behavior at a flight training school drew suspicion.

But investigators acknowledge that little strong evidence ties him directly to the plot. Although authorities allege that he was trained in al-Qaida terror camps, received a $14,000 wire transfer in Oklahoma from a former roommate of hijacker Mohamed Atta and was "an active participant" in the Sept. 11 plot, they have been unable to show that he had any direct contact with the 19 hijackers or Osama bin Laden.

Moussaoui's mother, Aicha Moussaoui, said in France Thursday that U.S. authorities are using her son as a "scapegoat" because they "can't find the people who are truly responsible for this crime."

Moussaoui's defense attorneys withheld comment on the Justice Department's decision to seek the death penalty, saying they would respond in court. But they attacked Ashcroft for airing his decision publicly just as court papers were being filed.

"The attorney general is breaking the spirit if not the letter of (court) rules every time he holds a press conference to announce a filing. It couldn't be for any other purpose than to influence the potential jury pool," defense attorney Frank W. Dunham Jr. said.

The bench in the eastern district of Virginia, where Moussaoui will be tried, is known as the "rocket docket" because of the speed with which it dispatches cases, and is known for its high rate of death penalty verdicts.

Legal analysts said the district's conservative reputation appears to have played a key role in Ashcroft's decision to bring a death case there.

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