Moussaoui denied he was to have been a fifth hijacker on United Airlines
Flight 93, which four al-Qaida hijackers flew into a Pennsylvania field on Sept.
11 ¡ª the so-called missing 20th hijacker. But he quickly added that he was part
of the 9/11 operation, ordered to pilot a fifth jetliner into the White House.
He said Reid was the only person he knew for sure would have been on that
mission, but others were discussed.
Reid pleaded guilty in October 2002 to trying to blow up Flight 63 and was
sentenced to life in prison.
Moussaoui testified that at one point he was excluded from pre-hijacking
operations because he had gotten in trouble with his al-Qaida superiors on a
2000 trip to Malaysia. He said it was only after he was called back to
Afghanistan and talked with Osama bin Laden that he was approved again for the
operation.
"My position was, like you say, under review."
The 19 terrorists on Sept. 11 hijacked and crashed four airliners, killing
nearly 3,000 people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on the planes.
The intended target of the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field remains
unknown.
Moussaoui testified for nearly three hours, ending his time on the stand by
declaring his gratitude that he was an al-Qaida member. When Spencer asked him
if he was also grateful to have been the fifth pilot, the defendant merely said:
"I'm grateful."
Moussaoui's lawyer asked him whether he thought anything in his testimony or
court proceedings would affect his fate. He replied: "I believe in destiny. God
gives life and death. I just have to speak the truth and God will take care of
the rest."
Before Moussaoui took the stand, the court heard testimony that two months
before the attacks a CIA deputy chief waited in vain for permission to tell the
FBI about a "very high interest" al-Qaida operative who became one of the
hijackers.
The official, a senior figure in the CIA's Laden unit, said he sought
authorization on July 13, 2001, to send information to the FBI but got no
response for 10 days, then asked again.
As it turned out, the information on Khalid al-Mihdhar did not reach the FBI
until late August. At the time, CIA officers needed permission from a special
unit before passing certain intelligence on to the FBI.
The official was identified only as John. His written testimony was read into
the record.