Suspected Terrorist’s Mother Refuses FBI-Monitored Visit

The mother of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the Sept. 11 attacks, said Friday she refused the chance to visit her son because prosecutors insisted that an FBI agent be present.

Instead, Aicha el-Wafi and lawyer Francois Roux met with prosecutors and defense attorneys for Moussaoui, who faces six conspiracy charges. Four of them could bring the death penalty.

“We want for Mr. Moussaoui, who is presumed not guilty, we want a fair trial,” Roux said. “We say it’s not a fair trial to do a visit in these conditions.”

“My son tells me he is not guilty,” El-Wafi said earlier Friday on CBS’ “The Early Show.” “He has told me he has proof that he did nothing and that at the appropriate time he will show that proof.”

El-Wafi spoke on CBS after coming to the Washington area to plead for her 33-year-old son and to attend his Jan. 2 arraignment in federal court in Alexandria.

Moussaoui has been indicted in the conspiracy to attack U.S. targets on Sept. 11, but he himself was in jail on that day.

A federal judge Thursday set a March 29 deadline for prosecutors to decide whether they will pursue the death penalty.

The deadline set by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is an extension of the usual time frame.

The Justice Department has an internal commission that decides when to seek the death penalty.

Bryan Sierra, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said Moussaoui’s case will go through the same review commission that is used for all potential capital cases.

Brinkema also agreed to waive the defendant’s speedy trial rights, which is typical in death penalty cases.

Brinkema also denied a joint request to delay any mental health examination of Moussaoui until the death penalty issue is resolved.