US attorney general vows to seek death penalty against Moussaoui

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Friday the government will seek the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty earlier in the day to conspiracy in relation with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"We are seeking the death penalty in this case," Gonzales told a press conference shortly after Moussaoui pleaded guilty at a US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in relation with the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people,pleaded guilty before US District Court Leonie M. Brinkema to each of the six charges of conspiracy against him.

Four of the charges carry the capital punishment, and it is widely believed that he could face the death penalty.

At the court hearing, Moussaoui said he was trained to fly a commercial airliner into White House, but that was not part of the Sept. 11 plot and was supposed to take place at a later time.

"I came to the United States of America to part of a conspiracy to use an airplane as a weapon of mass destruction," he said.

While admitting his guilt, Moussaoui said however that he would fight against the death penalty. "I will not apply for death and in fact I will fight every inch against the death penalty," he said.

Whether Moussaoui should be executed will be decided by a jury at the penalty phase.

Source: Xinhua