Moussaoui craves martyrdom

ZACARIAS Moussaoui, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the September11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, craves martyrdom and would be disappointed not to be sentenced to death, said a British imam acquainted with him.

In court in Alexandria, Virginia, US, however, Moussaoui has expressed a belief that US president George Bush will release him from prison.

Attorneys for Moussaoui have argued that he is insane.

A jury is now hearing testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial.

“It is my personal belief that the reason he is doing this is that he wants that martyr status,” Abdul Haq Baker, chairperson of the Brixton mosque in south London, said yesterday.

“If he receives the death penalty, he believes in the eyes of the Muslim community he will be seen as a martyr,” Baker said in an interview with BBC radio.

“If that is discredited in any way by questions of his sanity, then he will just be locked up in prison for a long time, and that will not give him any credibility at all.”

Baker testified during the sentencing phase of Moussaoui’s trial.

Moussaoui first attended the Brixton mosque in 1993 but developed an interest in radical teaching, Baker said.

“He wanted a sense of belonging, and there was frustration at what was being seen as atrocities being committed in the Muslim world,” Baker said.

“He was actively seeking a reason for jihad.

“We had conversations about that.

“He asked me ‘Where is the next jihad?’ and do I know where jihad is, and I said ‘No, I don’t.’

“He got very frustrated, because he believed I was withholding information from him.

“He was actively seeking a battlefield.”

The jury has already found Moussaoui eligible for execution.

Though he was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the jury ruled that lies he told federal agents a month before the attacks kept them from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.

The jury must choose between execution and life in prison. — Sapa-AP