As far as I'm aware, this is the first time Bin Laden has claimed any direct involvement in 9/11.DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden said Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a U.S. court for the September 11 attacks, had nothing to do with the operations, according to a Web site audiotape released on Tuesday.
Bin Laden said he had personally assigned tasks to the 19 hijackers who staged the attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. which killed about 3,000 people.
"The truth is that he has no connection whatsoever with the events of September 11. I am certain of what I say because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers ... with the raids," said the speaker who sounded like the leader of Al Qaeda.
The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. It was posted on a Web site often used by Al Qaeda.
Moussaoui was sentenced on May 4 to life in prison with no chance of release, ending 4-1/2 years of legal wrangling over his fate.
The 37-year-old French citizen of Moroccan descent pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy in connection with the attacks, in which hijacked airliners were flown into buildings.
"The participants in September 11 were two groups: pilots and support teams for each pilot in order to control the aircraft. And since Zacarias Moussaoui was learning how to fly, it follows that he was not the 20th person in the teams which helped to control the airplanes, as your (U.S.) government previously claimed," said the speaker.
Some U.S. officials initially said they believed Moussaoui was to have taken part in the September 11 attacks as a 20th hijacker. Others later said he was supposed to have been part of a second wave of attacks that were not carried out.
"His confession that he was assigned to participate in those raids is a false confession which no intelligent person doubts is a result of the pressure put upon him for the past four and a half years," the speaker said.
He said out of hundreds of people held on suspicion of links to the attacks only two had a connection to the attacks, but did not name them.
Referring to prisoners held by the United States in Guantanamo, he said: "I state a fact, about which I am also certain: all the prisoners of Guantanamo, who were captured in 2001 and the first half of 2002 ... had no connection whatsoever to the events of September 11".
"Many of them have no connection with al Qaeda," he added.
Bin Laden says Moussaoui not part of Sept 11
Moderator: Priests of Syrinx
-
Devil's Advocate
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 2:42 pm
- Location: Pembs, Wales, UK
- Contact:
Bin Laden says Moussaoui not part of Sept 11
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/23052006/325/b ... -tape.html
-
Devil's Advocate
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 2:42 pm
- Location: Pembs, Wales, UK
- Contact:
Really... How about when he said if given the oppurtunity he would kill as many Americans as he possibly could. As an American that is good enough for me to lock him up for the rest of his life.Devil's Advocate wrote:I think his conviction is unsound. I'm not sure I agree with bin Laden's opinion that Moussaoui's confession was made under duress, but the fact that the confession seems to be the only evidence against him makes for a very weak case.
-
Devil's Advocate
- Posts: 927
- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 2:42 pm
- Location: Pembs, Wales, UK
- Contact:
yeah but he spoke clearly and freely in a court of law. no blinding lights, no pulling off of toenails no chinese water torture. He spoke freely of his hatred for the Crusaders and if given the chance he would kill as many as he could. This was not a confession, this was him talking matter of factly. If it was an act he suceeded in making people believe him. He is right where he needs to be regardless if he had anything to do with 9/11 or not.
You guys may not agree with the tatics the US has used, but we have not been attacked since 9/11. I am OK with what my goverment is doing as my family and friends are safe. The proof is in the puddin.
You guys may not agree with the tatics the US has used, but we have not been attacked since 9/11. I am OK with what my goverment is doing as my family and friends are safe. The proof is in the puddin.
they might be safe from terrorists.....but are they safe from the amount of arseholes you have running about with guns...?
Why any country can have people running about with 'legal' guns when the fatalities in shootings is so high is beyond me...
in other words I dont think the US government is doing all they can to ensure your family is safe
Why any country can have people running about with 'legal' guns when the fatalities in shootings is so high is beyond me...
in other words I dont think the US government is doing all they can to ensure your family is safe
-
ElfDude
- Posts: 11085
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2003 1:19 pm
- Location: In the shadows of the everlasting hills
- Contact:
In Washington DC there is a complete and total ban on guns. Yet, it is the murder capitol in the United States.schuette wrote:they might be safe from terrorists.....but are they safe from the amount of arseholes you have running about with guns...?
Why any country can have people running about with 'legal' guns when the fatalities in shootings is so high is beyond me...
in other words I dont think the US government is doing all they can to ensure your family is safe
The vast majority of murders in the US are inner city black on black violence. I understand if you're black in New York City you have a 1 in 125 chance of being shot.
However, out here in the west, most of us have multiple guns in our homes and the murder rate is far lower than in the U.K. We simply have a different culture.
It's an old but true clich?; blaming murder on guns is like blaming Rosie O'Donnell being fat on spoons.
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?
