(2003-05-16) — France today called for the extradition of Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen and the only person accused in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
“We want Monsieur Moussaoui to feel the sting of French justice,” said an unnamed high-ranking French official. “Our outrage deepens by the day that one of our own may have committed this misdemeanor.”
The French government said it would put him on trial in Paris where the penalty for such a crime could place him behind bars for several weeks. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she would approve the extradition request “as long as France allows the defendant unimpeded access to his old friends in al Qaeda.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that the Moussaoui extradition story was not a fictional leak by top U.S. officials to discredit France.
“We have standards of integrity here,” said Mr. Rumsfeld. “We’re not the New York Times.”

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