Bin Laden denies Moussaoui link to 9/11
In an audio tape aired Tuesday, Bin Laden reported that Zacarias Moussaoui — the only person convicted in the U.S. for the Sept. 11 attacks — had nothing to do with the operation.
“He had no connection at all with Sept. 11,” he said.
“I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission,” he said, referring to the 19 hijackers.
The al-Qaida chief said the Sept. 11 hijackers were divided into two groups, “pilots and assistants.”
“Since Zacarias Moussaoui was still learning how to fly, he wasn’t No. 20 in the group, as your government has claimed,” bin Laden said. “It knows this very well,” he added.
Bin Laden said Moussaoui was not a security risk for al-Qaida, because he did not have knowledge of the plot.
“Brother Moussaoui was arrested two weeks before the events, and if he had known something — even very little — about the Sept. 11 group, we would have informed the leader of the operation, Mohammad Atta, and the others … to leave America before being discovered,” Bin Laden said.
Bin Laden said Moussaoui’s confession — that he helped plan the attacks — was “void,” calling it the result of “pressures exercised against him during four and a half years” in U.S. prison.
Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman and admitted al-Qaida member, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month after a jury ruled that he was responsible for at least one death on Sept. 11.
Two counterterrorism officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. intelligence is aware of the bin Laden message. One of the officials said there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. The official said the message was made for propaganda purposes, and it does not contain any threats.
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