For Immediate Release
December
11, 2001
|
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
|
Indictment
of Zacarias Moussaoui
Robert
S. Mueller, III, Director, FBIat the DOJ press conference announcing
the indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui
Good
afternoon.
This morning, people across the country and around the world
remembered and honored those who lost their lives, those
who saved lives, and those whose lives were changed forever
by the tragic events of September 11th. The indictment we
are announcing today is an important step in the process
of bringing to justice those who we believe to be connected
to these violent and vicious attacks on America.
Zacarias Moussaoui first came to our attention on August
15th, when we received information about the suspicious
circumstances of his flight training. The FBI worked with
the INS and Moussaoui was detained the next day by the INS
on a visa infraction.
The FBI continued to investigate Moussaoui after his detention.
As we uncovered information on the September 11 attacks,
and as is alleged in the indictment, Moussaoui followed
many of the same patterns and took many of the same steps
as the 19 hijackers.
As the indictment charges:
Moussaoui was present at an al Qaeda-based terrorist training
camp in Afghanistan three years ago. He attended flight
school and took commercial flight training courses. He purchased
flight deck videos from an Ohio Flight Store, just as Mohammed
Atta and other hijackers had done before him. He purchased
knives and protective equipment. He looked into global positioning
system technology. Like Atta, he also researched crop dusting.
The indictment also alleges that Moussaoui was linked to
Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an associate of Atta who tried unsuccessfully
to get into America on four separate occasions.
As the indictment charges:
At the time of al-Shibh's last failed attempt to enter the
U.S., Moussaoui was contacting flight schools and making
arrangements to have a legitimate presence in the U.S. In
February 2001, he arrived in the U.S., opened a bank account
with $32,000 in cash, and immediately enrolled in a flight
school. In early August 2001, Moussaoui received $14,000
from Germany from al-Shibh.
On August 10th, he paid for flight lessons with $6,300 in
cash.
I want to thank all those who contributed to today's indictment,
including our partners here in the U.S. and overseas, whose
cooperation and investigative skills were invaluable. With
the help of our partners here and overseas we will continue
to investigate to ensure that justice is done.
Thank you.
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