Man knew target of hijacked 9/11 plane, court hears

A FORMER driver for Osama bin Laden knew the target of the fourth hijacked plane on September 11, a prosecutor said yesterday as he sought to undercut defence arguments that the Guantanamo prisoner was a low-level employee of the terrorist leader.

Salim Hamdan, the first prisoner to face a US war-crimes trial since the second world war, heard bin Laden say the plane was heading for “the dome”, an apparent reference to the US Capitol, said Navy Lt Cmdr Timothy Stone.

The plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field as passengers overcame the hijackers.

“Virtually no one knew the intended target, but the accused knew,” said Stone.

Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism. The defence says the prisoner was merely a driver for bin Laden and had no significant role in al-Qaida’s attacks.

“The evidence is that he worked for wages, he didn’t wage attacks on America,” said Harry Schneider, one of Hamdan’s civilian defence attorneys. “He had a job because he had to earn a living, not because he had a jihad against America.”

But prosecutors say that as bin Laden’s personal driver, he helped him evade US retribution after the September 11 attacks and transport weapons for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors called a US soldier who described finding two missiles in the car Hamdan was driving when Afghan forces captured him in November 2001.

“You will not see evidence from the government that the accused ever fired a shot,” said Stone. “But what you will see is testimony regarding the accused’s role in al-Qaida, how he became a member of al-Qaida and how he helped, facilitated and provided material support for that organisation.”

Hamdan faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.