December 13, 2001	Thursday	Ramazan 27, 1422

PARIS, Dec 12: The mother of the first suspect indicted in the United States for conspiring with Osama bin Laden over the Sept 11 attacks was quoted on Wednesday as saying she feared her son would not get a fair trial.

The mother of Zacarias Moussaoui said her son was protesting his innocence.

“Zacarias has warned me in a letter that they are going to fabricate evidence and produce witnesses against him,” his mother Aicha told the French daily Le Parisien, saying she received his letter some weeks ago.

“In that case, what can you do to prove the contrary? My son says he too has evidence (of his innocence)... I hope he will have the chance to defend himself,” she said.

Moussaoui, 33, was arrested in Minnesota on Aug 16 on immigration violations after he aroused suspicion by trying to buy time on an airliner flight simulator at a flying school.

After the events of Sept 11, Moussaoui was sent to New York for questioning as a material witness to the attacks.

“They are capable of anything,” his mother said, referring to the US justice authorities. “Up until now, they have been holding him in jail without actually accusing him of anything.”

US Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Tuesday the indictment charged Moussaoui with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, to commit aircraft piracy, to destroy aircraft, to use weapons of mass destruction, to murder US employees and to destroy property.

He will be tried in a federal court and not in a military tribunal that has been proposed by President George W. Bush for foreigners suspected of involvement in the attacks.—Reuters