Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

World in brief

Don't make him a 'martyr' Moussaoui's mother says

By wire services
Published February 1, 2006

MONTPELLIER, France - The mother of Zacarias Moussaoui, who risks a death sentence as an admitted terrorist conspirator, said Tuesday she wants her son judged for his actions - not because he is Arab or an Islamist.

Aicha El Wafi's lawyer, Patrick Baudouin, appealed to the U.S. justice system not to "make a martyr" of the only person charged in the United States as part of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "The American justice system must not make an ideal victim," Baudouin said. "Don't turn him into a martyr."

Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent, pleaded guilty in April to six conspiracy charges. He has insisted he was not part of the Sept. 11 plot, and his mother told a news conference that he made the guilty plea simply "to have peace."

Moussaoui's mother said she plans to go to the United States on March 6, when testimony is to start in the penalty phase of her son's trial. Because he has already admitted guilt, the jury will only consider his punishment. El Wafi noted that her son was jailed at the time of 2001 attacks and said he should be "judged and convicted for what he did, and not because he is an Arab or an Islamist."

BOGOTA, Colombia - Thousands of right-wing paramilitary fighters accused of drug trafficking by the United States turned over more than 1,000 weapons Tuesday in one of the largest disarmament ceremonies to date.

The fighters' commander, Carlos Jimenez, alias "Macaco," is on a U.S. list of top suspected drug traffickers, and reportedly has close links with a powerful cartel.

Jimenez surrendered his weapon in December, along with 2,000 other members of the outlawed United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.

Fighters who surrender receive amnesty and a $180 monthly government stipend. The government suspends extradition orders for militia members who do not return to a life of crime.

AMONA OUTPOST, West Bank - Hundreds of right-wing protesters poured into this Jewish outpost Tuesday, laying barbed wire and cement blocks to thwart Israeli troops preparing to uproot part of the West Bank settlement.

Israel planned to send 7,000 troops and police officers to clear out Amona, in what would be the first forced evacuation of Jewish settlers since last summer's pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank. Military officials predicted stiff resistance during the evacuation, which was expected to begin today.

Israeli troops killed two Islamic Jihad militants, including the group's top leader in the West Bank, during a shootout that erupted during an arrest raid, army and Palestinian officials said. The army said the troops surrounded a house in a village outside Jenin when gunfire broke out. The dead included Nidal Abu Saada, Islamic Jihad's West Bank leader, members of the militant group said. Israeli military officials said Abu Saada was involved in all seven suicide bombing attacks carried out by Islamic Jihad over the past year.

MILAN, Italy - An alleged ringleader of the March 2004 Madrid bombings went on trial in a Milan court Tuesday on charges of international terrorism and plotting another attack in an undisclosed location.

The bombings killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500.

Handcuffed and dressed in white robes and a skullcap, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed was escorted by police into the courtroom and placed in a cage to the side of the room. He listened to the proceedings through an interpreter.

The start of the trial was thrown into some uncertainty because Ahmed's lawyer didn't show up in court. However, Judge Luigi Cerqua appointed another attorney to represent Ahmed and the hearing got under way two hours later with initial motions.

Ahmed says he is not the person speaking in intercepted conversations that Italian police say prove his role in the attacks and show that Ahmed was indoctrinating militants for suicide bomb missions in Iraq and elsewhere.

[Last modified February 1, 2006, 01:04:14]