'20th hijacker' suspect 'intended second al-Qaida strike'

Terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui has claimed he was plotting a second al-Qaida strike to follow-up the September 11 attacks, court papers released today showed.

The French Moroccan’s defence lawyers said he “made plans for activities” after the World Trade Centre and Pentagon atrocities.

“He contemplated living past that date,” according to a pleading in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

The second attack would have been outside the US, the lawyers said. No other details of the plot, or why it was not executed, were released.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in connection with the September 11 attacks in the US, where he is accused of being the planned 20th suicide hijacker. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

The 34-year-old, who formerly lived in Brixton, south London, has admitted being a member of al Qaida but always denied being involved in the 2001 attacks.

The court filings are the first time his defence has said what his role was in the terror network.

Moussaoui was taking flight lessons in Minnesota when he was arrested on immigration charges three weeks before the suicidal attacks in the US in 2001.

A court will rule next month if he should be allowed to see classified US government documents and interview al Qaida suspect Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, who he claims can back-up his story.