Moussaoui takes stand in death-penalty trial

Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, taking the witness stand in Alexandria, Virginia, today argued that he cannot get a fair trial so close to the Defence Department and denied he was trying to sabotage his defence by testifying earlier that he was to have piloted a fifth plane on September 11, 2001.

Moussaoui, as defiant on the witness stand as he has been at the defendant’s table throughout the trial, testified against the advice of his court-appointed lawyers and attacked them before the jury that has to decide whether he should be executed.