FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2006
NEWS
9/11 TRIAL
Judge gives six life sentences
Dana Verkouteren/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY MATTHEW BARAKAT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
This artist's rendering shows Rosemary Dillard, who lost her husband Eddie on Sept. 11, 2001, center at podium, speaking to Zacarias Moussaoui, left, as family members of 9/11 victims Lisa Beike, right, Abraham Scott, second from right, and Lisa Dolan, second from left, listen in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., during the sentencing of the convicted al-Qaida conspirator Thursday. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, center, sentenced Moussaoui to life in prison.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema sent Zacarias Moussaoui to prison for life Thursday, to "die with a whimper," for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The convicted terrorist declared; "God save Osama
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Brinkema and the unrepentant Moussaoul capped the two-month trial with an intense exchange that will mark the
bin Laden — you will never get him."
defendant's last public words before his incarceration in a maximum security prison in Colorado.
A day earlier, a jury rejected the government's case to have Moussaoul executed, deciding instead to should spend life in prison with no chance of parole. Not all jurors were convinced that Moussaoul, who was in jail on immigration charges Sept. 11, had a significant part in the attacks, despite his boastful claims that he did.
Brinkema firmly refused to be interrupted by the 37-year-old defendant as she disputed his declaration from a day earlier. "America, you lost ... I won."
Brinkema said it was proper he will be kept away from outsiders, unable to speak publicly again.
"You will spend the rest of your life in a supermax prison," Brinkema said. "It's absolutely clear who won."
"Mr. Moussaudi, you came here to be a martyr in a great bang of glory," she said, "but to paraphrase the poet T.S. Eliot, instead you will die with a whisper."
At that point, Moussaoui tried again to interrupt her, but she raised her voice and spoke over him.
"You will never get a chance to speak again and that's an appropriate ending."
Brinkema sentenced Moussaoui to six life terms without the chance of parole, with two terms to be served consecutively.
She informed him of his right to appeal the sentence and said she would ask his court-appointed lawyers to file the required notice as a precaution before relieving them from the case. "I believe it would be an act of futility," she said of an appeal, "but you do have a right."
band Bob in the attack on the Pentagon, was one of three family members of victims allowed to speak at the brief sentencing hearing.
Lisa Dolan, who lost her hus-
She turned to Moussaoui said, "There is still one final judgment day."
Moussaoui sat in his chair staring at Dolan and the other family witnesses, Rosemary Dillard and Abraham Scott, betraying no emotion as they spoke.
ally press the United States to have Moussaoui serve his life sentence in France under two conventions on the transfer of convicts. They were waiting to hear the conditions of his sentencing.
Scott, who attended much of the trial, said after the hearing that Moussaoui's antics over the last two months irritated him. Moussaoui walked into the courtroom flashing a victory sign.
Moussaoui's mother Aicha El Wafi, pressed for her country to intervene. "Now he is going to die in little doses," she said. "He is going to live like a rat in a hole. What for? They are so cruel."
French authorities said Thursday they may eventu-
After seven days of deliberation, the nine men and three women rebuffed the government's appeal for death for the only person charged in this country in the suicide hijackings of four commercial jetliners that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SA NATION
NATION
BY LIBRY QUAID
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Hoping to prevent a scare over deadly bird flu, the government is distributing television and radio commercials assuring people that chicken is safe to eat.
"Mmm, that chicken looks great. But what about bird flu?" a man asks in one of the ads.
Authorities don't know how people will react once the deadly virus arrives in the United States.
Initially, those messages may run up against heavy promotion by ABC of its made-for-television movie, "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America." The promos feature how ill-prepared the country is to deal with the problem.
Commercials aim to ease bird flu fear
His wife says she read that bird flu is unlikely to reach people's dinner plates. "And even if it did, we have the power to ensure our chicken is safe," she says.
An announcer lists four steps for food safety: Clean hands and cooking surfaces. Separate raw and cooked foods. Cook poultry to at least 165 degrees. Chill left-over promptly.
When bird flu was discovered in France and Italy, consumer demand for chicken plummeted there. It stayed steady when the virus appeared in Britain.
The Agriculture Department on Thursday began sending out a series of commercials, interview excerpts, video footage and photos to television and radio stations with the goal of easing people's minds and clearing up misconceptions about bird flu.
Americans generally are considered to be confident in their food supply, and eat more chicken than any country in the world. The average person ate 85.8 pounds of chicken last year, a total that should rise to
While bird flu has spread from Asia throughout Europe and Africa, it hasn't yet reached the United States.
"But it's important for you to know that it's safe to eat poultry, even if bird flu is detected here sometime in the future," Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety, says in one of the commercials.
87. 7 pounds in 2006, according to USDA projections.
The government is testing wild birds as they arrive this month in Alaska and then fly south along migratory pathways. Chicken and turkey companies have been testing nearly every flock for the virus.
"You do have the power to make sure your food is safe," Raymond adds.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, in another spot, said finding the virus in the U.S. "would not signal the start of a human flu pandemic."
"The virus is not efficiently spreading from person to person," Johanns said.
While it does not spread easily among humans, the virus has killed at least 113 people who had close contact with sick birds. The fear is that it might adapt to spread rapidly from person to person, causing a global epidemic.
Ads that focus on that aspect of bird flu are still in the works, said Bill Hall, a Health and Human Services Department spokesman. Like the Agriculture Department spots, the message would be that the arrival of bird flu does not signal a public health emergency, Hall said.
Messages probably would also include information about proper hygiene, such as the need to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, Hall said.
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