WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Zacarias Moussaoui has asked to withdraw his guilty plea to a terror plot because he's now convinced he can get a "fair trial" in a U.S. court.
Moussaoui said in a motion filed in federal court on Friday and released Monday that he only said he was part of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking plot with Mohammad Atta and others because he did not think he would receive a fair trial, The New York Times reported.
Last week, a federal jury in Alexandria, Va., gave Moussaoui a life sentence, rejecting possible capital punishment, for concealing knowledge of the terror attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In the motion, he said he claimed to be a member of the plot "even though I knew that was a complete fabrication" and sought a retrial "because I now see that it is possible that I can receive a fair trial even with Americans as jurors."
Moussaoui's court-appointed lawyers said they filed the motion for a new trial even though federal rules prohibit defendants from withdrawing a guilty plea after sentencing.
