Bin Laden says Moussaoui had nothing to do with Sept. 11 attacks

Osama bin Laden said Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the U.S. for the Sept. 11 attacks, had nothing to do with the operation, according to an audiotape released on the Internet Tuesday.

Photo: Bin Laden says Moussaoui had nothing to do with Sept. 11 attacks

"He had no connection at all with Sept. 11," the voice on the tape said.

"I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission," the voice said, referring to the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Bin Laden said Moussaoui's confession that he helped plan the attacks was "void," calling it the result of "pressures exercised against him during four and a half years" in U.S. prison.

The tape's authenticity could not be immediately verified.

Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman and admitted al-Qaida member, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month after a jury ruled that he was responsible for at least one death on Sept. 11, reports AP.

O.Ch.