Moussaoui Trial Details August 2001 Arrest

March 9, 2006 — -- A key witness in the government's death penalty case against Zacarias Moussaoui testified for four hours today about the FBI investigation of the admitted al Qaeda operative in the days leading up to 9/11.

Prosecutors are seeking to show Moussaoui knowingly lied or covered up knowledge of the 9/11 attacks after his August 16, 2001 arrest by INS and FBI agents. If the jury determines that he did lie, then the court will hold a separate phase to determine if he should be executed or face life in prison.

FBI Agent Harry Samit testified that after FBI headquarters shot down several attempts by Minnesota-based field agents to apply for search warrants for Moussaoui's bags and laptop computer, agents received information from France that Moussaoui had ties to Chechen terrorists. The French government was also interested in investigating Moussaoui's activities as an Islamic extremist. The U.S. government finalized a deal with France on September 10, 2001, to deport Moussaoui to his home country, where French authorities would have the authority to search his belongings.

Had the FBI been able to establish probable cause for a criminal search warrant or a FISA warrant, they would have found contact information for "Ahad Sabet" an alias used by 9/11 facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh who was in Germany at the time. In earlier testimony FBI Agent Michael Anticev said it could take as long as 3 months to get access to German phone records.

Prosecutor David Novak focused on information Moussaoui withheld during interviews with FBI and INS agents. Novak read from the statement of facts in the case and asked Samit if Moussaoui "told you he came to the U.S. to fly a plane into the White House." Samit said it "would have triggered an immediate attempt to gather information."

Samit testified that after Moussaoui's arrest, he often asked agents to let him return to his flight training. "It was a constant theme during our interviews." Samit said.

The testimony also revealed details about the arrest of Hussein Al-Attas, Moussaoui's one-time roommate who drove them to flight school in Minnesota. Attas was arrested the day after Moussaoui for immigration violations. Samit said that during interviews with agents, Attas told federal agents Moussaoui said it was "perfectly acceptable to kill civilians in jihad."