Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker", has pleaded guilty to conspiring with the terrorists who carried out the 11 September attacks.

Moussaoui is the first person to be convicted in the US over the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. He said he was being trained to carry out a separate attack on the White House.

The French citizen, who now faces the death penalty, appeared in a federal court where six charges were read to him. He pleaded guilty on each count and added: "I expect leniency."

The judge, Leonie Brinkema, asked Moussaoui's lawyer, Alan Yamamoto, if his client understood what he was doing and that four of the six charges carried the death penalty.

"When I have spoken to him we have disagreed," said Mr Yamamoto. "He is facing the possibility of death or life in prison. He has told me that he understands that."

The judge told Moussaoui that she accepted his plea and that he was therefore found guilty. "He has a better understanding of the legal system than some lawyers I have seen in court," the judge added.

Yesterday's pleas are the latest turn in Moussaoui's long and often complicated case in which the US authorities have sought to use the civil courts to try the terror case.

Their plans were often derailed, partly as a result of Moussaoui's apparently insightful legal decisions and partly because of Judge Brinkema's initial rulings that supported the defendant in his argument that he ought to be able to cross-examine the secret witnesses that the prosecution is relying on.

Among these sources are the alleged al-Qa'ida senior planner, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Moussaoui, 36, of Moroccan descent, might have boxed the Justice Department into a corner had it not been for a decision by the US Supreme Court a month ago that rejected his claim that he could not get a fair trial unless he had access to those al-Qa'ida captives he said could help his defence.

Despite the pleas, exactly what Moussaoui did with the 11 September hijackers has never been made fully clear.

Yesterday's indictment said he had received the same training and preparation as the 19 11 September hijackers and that the conspiracy he was involved in "resulted in the deaths of thousands of persons on September 11, 2001". It also said he received money from an al-Qa'ida operative involved in the attacks.

Some early reports suggest he was due to have been the pilot of one of the hijacked planes. Later, officials said he was to have been part of a later wave of attacks against the US.

Yesterday he told the court: "I was being trained on a 747 to eventually use this plane to strike the White House." Referring to the attacks of 11 September, he added: "That's not my conspiracy".

Moussaoui, who was dressed in a green prison jump suit and had a full beard, almost pleaded guilty three years ago. On that occasion, in the summer of 2002, he changed his mind at the last minute after the judge questioned him further.

During that hearing he said that he was not involved in the hijackings but that he was a member of al-Qa'ida and pledged allegiance to its leader, Osama bin Laden.

Moussaoui did not take part in the hijackings. He was arrested in August after arousing suspicion at a flight training school in Minnesota. He was initially held on immigration charges and subsequently charged with conspiracy.

No date has been fixed for Moussaoui's sentencing.

© 2005 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

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