THE sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui opened in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday with the selection of a jury that will determine whether he is put to death for conspiring with al-Qaida terrorists to hijack planes and commit other crimes.

US government prosecutors today argued that a terrorist conspirator who studied in London must be executed for causing the deaths of nearly 3,000 people by failing to tell what he knew of the September 11 attacks.

Zacarias Moussaoui’s sentencing trial opened in Alexandria, Virginia, today with the selection of a jury that will determine whether he is put to death for conspiring with al Qaida terrorists to hijack planes and commit other crimes.

Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person accused of being an accomplice in the September 11 terrorist attacks, will today plead not guilty to conspiring to kill and maim thousands of victims.

The only person charged with direct involvement in the terrorist attacks on the US has told his mother he can prove his innocence.