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Judge sets deadline in terror case
From Kevin Bohn
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The judge overseeing the case of Zacarias Moussaoui has ordered the government to tell her by Wednesday whether it will give him access to two high-ranking al Qaeda detainees. Moussaoui is the sole person charged in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the government has previously denied him access to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and alleged al Qaeda financier Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Both Mohammed and al-Hawsawi are being held by the U.S. military at an undisclosed military location overseas. Judge Leonie Brinkema's Tuesday order follows her rejection of a compromise the government proposed in the contentious issue. In an order made public Tuesday, Brinkema said, "We find the proposed substitutions to be inadequate substitutes" for the court-ordered depositions of the two. The contents of the government's proposal remain classified. Justice Department officials had no immediate comment, but sources indicated prosecutors do not plan an immediate appeal to a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia. A lawyer representing Moussaoui also had no immediate comment on the judge's order. On August 29, Brinkema ordered videotaped depositions of two detainees whom sources have identified as Mohammed and al-Hawsawi. Lawyers helping to represent Moussaoui have argued the detainees can help clear their client of any role in the September 11 attacks. Moussaoui, 35, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, maintains that he had no role in the attacks, but he acknowledges that he is a member of al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group behind them. Moussaoui has said he is wrongly accused because he intended to participate in a post-September 11 plot outside the United States. Moussaoui faces six charges of conspiracy -- to commit terrorism transcending national boundaries; to commit aircraft piracy; to destroy aircraft; to use weapons of mass destruction; to murder United States employees; and to destroy property. The government has vigorously fought any access to such detainees, who remain in U.S. custody, arguing any interruption of the ongoing interrogations could hurt its anti-terrorism efforts. The government lost a similar argument when it was ordered to allow access to another al Qaeda detainee, Ramzi Binalshibh, who helped plan the September 11 hijackings. After Brinkema ordered access to Binalshibh, the government said it would defy that order and not allow the defense to question him. Brinkema delayed imposing sanctions against the government for its refusal until the issue of access to Mohammed and al-Hawsawi is resolved. CNN producer Terry Frieden contributed to this story.
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