Zacarias Moussaoui

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Lore & Background

Zacarias Moussaoui was born in France to Moroccan parents who had moved from Morocco. His mother, Aicha el-Wafi, left his father Omar after domestic violence and raised her children on a cleaner's wages. The family faced racism as first-generation immigrants. Moussaoui's adolescence included two 'wounding' incidents: a school careers adviser pushed him toward minor technical studies with the implication that he was 'only an Arab,' and the father of his teenage sweetheart warned him off because he was an Arab. His brother wrote that Zacarias loved handball and was brilliant at it, with a future mapped out in study and sports. Moussaoui holds a master's degree in International Business from South Bank University in London. He attended the Brixton Mosque, where he may have met Richard Reid, the future shoe bomber, and was proselytized by groups such as al-Muhajiroun. French authorities began monitoring him in 1996 when they observed him with Islamic extremists in London. In September 2000, he visited Malaysia and stayed in a condominium owned by Yazid Sufaat, who provided him with US$35,000 and travel documents. Two of the 9/11 hijackers had lived in the same condominium in January 2000. From February to May 2001, Moussaoui attended flight training at Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma, but failed after 57 hours of lessons without ever flying solo. In August 2001, he received US$14,000 in wire transfers from Ramzi bin al-Shibh and paid US$6,800 for 747-400 simulator training at Pan-Am International Flight Academy in Minnesota. His flight instructor, Clarence Prevost, became suspicious and contacted the FBI. Moussaoui was arrested on 16 August 2001 for an immigration violation. The FBI's attempts to search his laptop were denied, and the 9/11 Commission Report opined that had the captured al-Qaeda member Ahmed Ressam been asked about Moussaoui, he might have broken the logjam and possibly disrupted the attacks.

Reader's Guide

Zacarias Moussaoui's significance lies in his status as the only person convicted in an American civilian court of a crime in connection with the September 11 attacks. His trial was viewed by legal analysts as a barometer of America's ability to give a fair hearing to terrorism suspects after 9/11. Moussaoui argued he was not involved in the 9/11 attacks but was planning a similar attack of his own, a defense that some al-Qaeda members reportedly corroborated but prosecutors believed had no merit. In May 2006, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole; the jurors voted against the death penalty, citing his unstable childhood and possible ignorance of al-Qaeda's plans. His case highlighted tensions between national security and civil liberties, as the FBI's failure to search his laptop before 9/11 became a subject of scrutiny. Moussaoui is currently held at ADX Florence federal supermax prison in Colorado.

Did You Know?

• Moussaoui is the only person ever convicted in an American civilian court of a crime in connection with 9/11.
• He paid US$6,800 in $100 bills for 747-400 simulator training just days before his arrest.
• His flight instructor Clarence Prevost received a $5 million reward from the U.S. government in 2008.
• Moussaoui holds a master's degree in International Business from South Bank University in London.
• The 9/11 Commission Report opined that if Ahmed Ressam had been asked about Moussaoui, the attacks might have been disrupted.