Zacarias Moussaoui: Saudi Prince Paid For Sept 11th Hijacker’s Flight Lessons
Zacarias Moussaoui, the “20th Hijacker” who is serving a life sentence on terror charges brought in the wake of the September 11 attacks, has claimed that the Saudi Arabian royal family helped finance the plot.
According the the Daily Mail, Moussaoui, 46, has asserted that an unnamed Saudi prince paid for flight lessons for him, as well as the 19 hijackers who ultimately committed the terrorist attacks. Moussaoui recently wrote to federal courts in New York and Oklahoma, saying that he could provide information about the inner workings of al-Qaeda and claiming that the unnamed prince knowingly assisted him in his terrorist activities. He also claimed that Saudi leaders provided Osama Bin Laden with assistance in planning the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as a plot to down Air Force One while President Clinton was aboard.
’20th hijacker’ Zacarias Moussaoui wants to testify in Oklahoma City federal court; says… http://t.co/NzwkLg9yYG pic.twitter.com/rrQuQliSY9
— fa (@fa77775682) November 8, 2014
While some observers are skeptical of his claims, lawyers for the federal government have taken Moussaoui seriously enough to interview him at the Supermax Federal Prison in Colorado, according to the New York Daily News. Officials in Oklahoma have stated, however, that Moussaoui’s requests to be assigned government lawyers and speak in open court would most likely not be granted, as the claims he is making have no bearing on any current cases.
Saudi Arabia has denied outright any involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, noting in court that the United States has often identified them as an ally in the war against terrorism. Last month, however, lawyers involved in a federal lawsuit against Saudi Arabia were allowed to interview Moussaoui in prison. Though his statements cannot yet be shared publicly, the interviewers believe Moussaoui’s information is relevant to their case.
6 September 2011: “I was blind to son’s extremism” http://t.co/KNp0I4gvV3 pic.twitter.com/ZvJ9lJbeJ1
— Ryan Smith (@Ry5mith) October 1, 2013
Zacarias Moussaoui was converted to an extremist form of Islam at London’s Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s. As the Inquisitr previously noted, Abu Hamza, the chief cleric of that Mosque, was tried under terror charges in New York City earlier this year.
Experts have called Moussaoui’s credibility into question, citing a series of erratic actions during his terror trial. Taken into custody on immigration charges in August of 2001, Moussaoui pled guilty in April, 2005 to charges that he conspired with the Sept. 11 hijackers. In 2006, a recording emerged online, however, in which Osama Bin Laden distanced himself from Moussaoui, saying that “Brother Zacarias” had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks.
[Image via ABC News]
