Moussaoui, Zacarias (1968–)

French citizen of Moroccan descent accused by the U.S. government of conspiring with members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network of terrorists to perpetrate acts of terrorism on American soil. As of 2004, Moussaoui was the only individual to be charged in the United States in direct connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

[Page 479]The U.S. government refers to Moussaoui as the 20th hijacker, alleging that he planned to be aboard the United Airlines plane that crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its intended target. Moussaoui's ongoing trial was followed closely by legal experts, who have been looking for clues about U.S. government intentions for future handling of penal court cases against suspected terrorists. Four of the six charges against Moussaoui—including conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction (WMD)—carry the death penalty.

Beginnings

In a book published in 2002 after the terrorist attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui's older brother, Abd Samad Moussaoui, described Moussaoui's troubled childhood and his subsequent attraction to a particularly violent strand of Islamic fundamentalism. Growing up in a racist environment in southern France, Moussaoui became very frustrated, which later provided an apparent justification for his adoption of an ideology of vengeful violence against Islam's “enemies.”

Frustrated and angered by numerous failed attempts to find a job in his town, Moussaoui decided at the end of 1991 to relocate to London, where he pursued a master's degree in international business. It was in England that he came into close contact with a well-organized fundamentalist Islamic sect (called the Wahhabists), whose uncompromising belligerent ideology soon radicalized Moussaoui's already developing aggressive impulses. Enveloped in his newly found radical religious community, Moussaoui gradually grew away from his family back in France.

The Plot

According to U.S. intelligence, Moussaoui flew to Pakistan on December 9, 2000, where he remained for two months, allegedly meeting with suspected al-Qaeda members. Shortly after his return to England, he flew to the United States. Between February 26 and May 29, 2001, he attended the Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma, but he did not receive a pilot's license despite undergoing extensive instruction.

Moussaoui's next destination was Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he trained on Boeing flight simulators with the Pan Am International Flight Academy. However, his behavior soon attracted the suspicion of the flight school staff, who contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On August 15, 2001, Moussaoui was arrested for failing to renew his expiring American visa. At the time of the arrest, he was found to possess Boeing flight manuals, a flight simulator computer program, and a disk containing information related to aerial crop dusting.

Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent who was indicted in December 2001 as a key figure in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Still held in prison awaiting trial, Moussaoui maintains his innocence despite some evidence that suggests he was involved. Moussaoui was already being held in prison when the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred, and some critics contend that more investigation by the FBI and other intelligence agencies immediately after Moussaoui's arrest may have helped prevent at least one of the terrorist hijackings.

Corbis.

The FBI failed to acquire a search warrant for Moussaoui's laptop, which would be examined only after the September 11 terrorist attacks. FBI critics have argued that if the FBI had accessed information on that laptop that connected Moussaoui (albeit indirectly) to several of the September 11 hijackers, the [Page 480]terrorist attacks might have been averted. Although Moussaoui admitted his relationship with al-Qaeda, he denied any involvement in the September 11 plot.

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