Moussaoui jurors may hear tape

Federal prosecutors want to play the cockpit tape from United Airlines Flight 93 -- in which passengers wrested control of the hijacked plane -- for the jury hearing the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, according to court papers filed Thursday.

In the first glimpses of how the government intends to present the human impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, prosecutors also asked U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema for permission to have a New York law enforcement officer use photographs and videotapes of two other planes crashing into the World Trade Center to summarize the attack for the jury. The government also wants to introduce more than 2,800 photographs of victims from the World Trade Center "so the jury properly understands who was murdered instead of merely hearing statistics," the motion said.

Moussaoui, 34, is the only person charged with any role in the Sept. 11 plot, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. They have not revealed what evidence they have linking Moussaoui to the hijackers. A grand jury indictment outlines Moussaoui's actions before Sept. 11, alleging they were similar to the hijackers', including receipt of money transfers from an al-Qaida operative.

The tape and transcript of the cockpit voice recorder of Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, has been closely guarded by the government, and the prosecutors' request to play it includes a petition to seal any transcripts of the recording.

Also . . .

PRISON CELLS ADDED: Bulldozers tore at the earth Thursday as construction progressed on a new wing of the U.S. military's prison camp for alleged al-Qaida and Taliban fighters at Guantanamo Bay Navel Base. The 204 new cells at Camp Delta should be finished Oct. 1, bringing the number of cells in the seaside compound to 816. The camp has 598 detainees.

PEARL'S BODY RETURNS: The body of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist kidnapped and slain by Islamic militants, returned Thursday to the United States, a family spokesman said. The body was flown from Pakistan to Los Angeles, said James Lee, a spokesman for Pearl's parents. The family is planning a private funeral service.

PAKISTANI PLEADS GUILTY: A young Pakistani man pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to carry out a terrorist plot to bomb power stations, a National Guard armory and Jewish businesses in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Imran Mandhai, 19, faces five to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to damage and destroy property by means of fire and explosives. His co-conspirator, Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, pleaded guilty July 25 to the same charge.

BRIDGES THREATENED: New information warning of possible terrorist threats against American bridges has been received by U.S. intelligence agencies, but officials played down its significance Thursday, saying its credibility is uncertain. The information raises the possibility of attacks on bridges and appears to be similar to earlier, unsubstantiated reports of threats against landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.

WASHINGTON STREETS CLOSED: The Secret Service, fearing the possibility of truck bombs, is banning trucks and all street parking on several blocks along the White House complex. Beginning today, eight blocks of 17th Street -- between H Street and Constitution -- will be closed to trucks, said Secret Service spokesman John Gill. Also, on the four blocks closest to the White House, "No parking, no stopping, no standing."

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