Lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui on Wednesday entered a plea of not guilty to charges he conspired with Osama bin Laden to murder thousands of people -- the first charges filed in the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.
"In the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plead. I enter no plea. Thank you very much," a bearded Moussaoui, 33, said in accented English.
US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema said she understood his remarks to be a plea of not guilty, and one of Moussaoui's court-appointed defense attorneys, Frank Dunham, said: "That's correct."
Opening arguments in the trial were set to begin on Oct. 14.
Dressed in a green jumpsuit with the word "Prisoner" on the back, Moussaoui was flanked by two guards as he appeared in the federal court for his arraignment. The brief comments were the first public remarks made by the French citizen of Moroccan descent since he was detained in August.
Moussaoui was indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 11 on six counts of conspiracy, four of which carry a possible death penalty. The indictment accused Moussaoui of conspiring with Saudi-born dissident bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network to kill thousands of people on Sept. 11.
At the time of the attacks, Moussaoui was already being held by US officials on immigration charges. He was detained on Aug. 16 in Minnesota after officials at a flying school where he was training became suspicious.
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