Moussaoui after sentencing: 'America, you lost'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Zacarias Moussaoui claimed victory over America after a jury rejected the government's effort to put the Sept. 11 conspirator to death and instead decided to lock him away in prison for the rest of his life. Moussaoui, who spent much of the two-month trial cursing America, blessing al-Qaida and mocking the suffering of 9/11 victims, offered one more taunt after the jury reached its verdict: "America, you lost. ... I won," he said, clapping his hands as he was escorted from the courtroom. Moussaoui will get one last chance to speak publicly Thursday when he will formally be sentenced to life in prison. Barring an unforeseen circumstance, he will then be sent to a federal supermax prison in Colorado for the rest of his life under special conditions that will prevent him from having any contact with the outside world. 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 that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.