ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jul 25, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Zacarias Moussaoui declared Thursday he was guilty of four of six charges in a federal indictment accusing him of conspiracy in connection with the Sept. 11. But the judge said she didn't believe he was ready to admit his full guilt.
"At this point I do not believe you are prepared to make a guilty plea because you are not prepared to admit the essence of the conspiracy," U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said after Moussaoui tried to plead guilty to the first charge in his indictment.
The exchange placed in doubt Moussaoui's efforts to plead to some of the charges against him.
Moussaoui, a Frenchman and the lone person charged with conspiring with the September hijackers, balked when the judge asked him directly if he had joined with members of al-Qaida in a plan to seize aircraft.
"I want a recess," he asked. The judge agreed.
The court must decide whether to accept any of the four guilty pleas Moussaoui said he wants to make, and was spending Thursday reviewing how much he was willing to admit to.
"Today, I truthfully will enter on some of the charges, not all, a plea of guilty," Moussaoui told the judge.
"It should not be misunderstood that I endorse the entire indictment. There is enough factual basis for me to plead guilty in a truthful manner," the French citizen said.
Moussaoui told the court he intended to plead guilty to the first four charges in the indictment against him, accusing him of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, aircraft piracy, aircraft destruction and using weapons of mass destruction.
But the only man charged in the September attacks said he was not pleading to the last two charges. Those two charges accuse him of attempting to murder government employees and attempting to destroy property.
When the judge began to ask him about his role in the Sept. 11 conspiracy, Moussaoui gave his own explanation as his mother from France watched on in the audience.
"They allege I provided a guest house, I accept," he said. "If they allege provide training, it is possible for me to accept," he said. "I plead guilty to what is in the indictment, but it still doesn't put me on the plane."
Brinkema ruled she did not believe Moussaoui was prepared to admit guilt on the first charge - the one which accused him of conspiring to commit terrorism.
"I want to plead only for what I did, not for what they say I did," Moussaoui declared at one point in the proceedings.
Some of the charges against Moussaoui carry the death penalty, and even if the judge accepted some of his guilty pleas, the court likely would have to hold a trial to determine the penalty.
During the middle of the hearing, the court was informed that a federal appeals court had rejected a request from a private lawyer who tried to represent Moussaoui. The lawyer wanted to stop the hearing.
Before Moussaoui made his statements, Brinkema also rejected a request by Moussaoui's court-appointed attorneys to delay Thursday's arraignment and to order a full-scale mental evaluation. The lawyers, whom Moussaoui fired, have been arguing that they believe he is mentally ill and unable to represent himself.
They cited as evidence more than a hundred handwritten court briefs that Moussaoui has made - some making wild allegations.
"His pleadings are somewhat confrontational and somewhat unusual ... but they do not give the court any basis to assume that the defendant is not competent," the judge ruled.
Brinkema noted that Moussaoui "obviously understood the court's admonition" to stop filing repetitive motions. The court "did not receive a filing from him in a week. That's a record," she quipped.
At one point, Brinkema asked Moussaoui to take an oath. He had repeatedly objected to swearing on a Christian bible, so she permitted him to make an amended oath.
"In the name of Allah ... I will tell the truth to the best of my ability," Moussaoui swore.
He appeared with a beard and in traditional green prison jumpsuit, flanked by two U.S. marshals. Moussaoui's mother, Aicha el-Wafi, traveled from France and sat in the audience.
Brinkema noted that the mother had written the court urging that her son's guilty pleas not be permitted.
Brinkema had sent a letter to Moussaoui noting that she had asked the government to outline the facts of the case against him. She asked him if he had seen the letter and agreed with the government's facts.
"If I were to agree to all their facts, I would not only plead guilty but guilty for the death penalty," he responded.
Moussaoui said the government has not allowed him to tell what he knows to a grand jury but said he wanted to use Thursday's court session to divulge what he knew about Sept. 11.
Moussaoui said the crux of the case against him is "whether I came to the U.S. to commit acts of terrorism. ... That's what I want to talk to U.S. people, Americans, who are my enemies."
U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty had argued that Moussaoui was competent to make his own plea and that his defense lawyers request was "an attempt to add an artificial barrier to the defendant's clear intent to plead guilty."
Already heavy security at the U.S. Courthouse not far from the Pentagon, site of one of the Sept. 11 attacks, was tightened further for Moussaoui's appearance.
The defendant was driven to the courthouse roughly two hours hours before his scheduled appearance.
The security perimeter of hydraulic barriers was widened for Moussaoui's return to the courtroom where he attempted a week earlier to plead guilty.
That plea was rejected by Brinkema, who told Moussaoui last week to return to court and decide whether he still wanted to plead guilty to a terrorism conspiracy.
"Bet on me I will," said the unpredictable Moussaoui, who is representing himself and won't communicate with the lawyers who filed the postponement request.
Moussaoui last week admitted he was a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network but in the past has denied aiding the hijackers. Brinkema told him he could not plead guilty by denying his personal role.
The only individual charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, Moussaoui said he had information about the conspiracy that he believed would save his life in a penalty phase of the case. The Bush administration has said it would seek his execution if Moussaoui is found guilty.
Frank Dunham Jr., the lead defense lawyer, said Wednesday that a report from defense mental health experts reinforced their earlier view of Moussaoui's illness.
That report concluded there was "reasonable cause to believe that this defendant suffers from a psychotic mental disease or defect and has been exibiting marked deterioration in his mental state since he was permitted to proceed" as his own lawyer.
Dunham said the experts need more time to determine whether Moussaoui is legally competent to proceed. Brinkema disagreed.
By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
