July 20, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1423

PARIS, July 19: Francois Roux, the French attorney for the family of Zacarias Moussaoui, who on September 30 will be tried before a US Federal Court for having taken part in the preparations for the September 11 attacks, says that Moussaoui is “in a profound state of despair,” and that his recent statements “should be taken with a grain of salt.”

Moussaoui surprised US magistrate Leonie Brinkema on Thursday when he chose to plead guilty to the various charges brought against him, and also pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.