41 10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 12, 2001 NATION/WORLD First indictment made in WASHINGTON (AP) - in the first criminal indictment stemming from Sept. I1, a federal grand jury yesterday charged a Frenchman who was jailed a month before the attacks with con- spiring with Osama bin Laden to murder thou- sands in the suicide hijackings. The 30-page indictment against Zacarias Moussaoui, 33, who was born in France of Moroccan descent, laid out in copious detail an international plot dating to 1998 that involved the 19 hijackers, bin Laden, top al-Qaida deputies and tens of thousand of dollars. Moussaoui was charged with six felonies, including four that carry the death penalty. The indictment sets the stage for a trial in a federal courtroom in the Virginia suburbs of Washington rather than a military tribunal. "The United States of America has brought the awesome weight of justice against the terror- ists who brutally murdered innocent Americans," Attorney General John Ashcroft said in announcing the indictment on the three month anniversary of the deadly hijackings. "Al-Qaida will now meet the justice it abhors and the judgment it fears." Ashcroft called Moussaoui an "active partici- pant" with the 19 hijackers who crashed four jet- liners in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, killing thousands. Though jailed since Aug. 17 in Minnesota after raising suspicions while seeking flight train- ing, Moussaoui had worked in concert with bin Laden associates to carry out the attacks, the attorney general alleged. The indictment said Moussaoui's activities mirrored those of the 19 hijackers - he attended I sept. 11 c~ flight school, opened a bank account with cash, joined a gym, purchased knives, bought flight deck videos and looked into crop dusting planes. "Moussaoui followed many of the same pat- terns and took many of the same steps as the 19 hijackers," FBI Director Robert Mueller said. The indictment charged Moussaoui "with con- spiring with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida'to murder thousands of innocent people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania on Sept. i1." Moussaoui faces arraignment Jan. 2 on six charges of conspiracy: terrorism, aircraft piracy, 3nspiracy destruction of aircraft, use of weapons of mass destruction, murder and destruction of property. The indictment also identifies bin Laden, his top lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri and other alleged member of al-Qaida as unindicted co- conspirators. Among the unindicted co-conspirators was Ramsi Binalshibh, a Yemeni fugitive who lived in Germany with some of the hijackers. Mueller has said Binalshibh was supposed to be the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, but failed to make it into the United States. 4 Release of bin Laden tape could come today WASHINGTON (AP) - Not that they had any doubts, but senators who reviewed the tape of Osama bin Laden said yesterday they hope it will convince the rest of the world that he's responsible for the Sept. II attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "What's on it is a frightening display of evil. Here-are three men, sitting in what looks like a common room for that part of the world, calmly discussing the events of September 11 like it was last weekend's golf game,' said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) after viewing the tape. "Osama bin Laden is laughinig, grinning and marveling at the destruction and death of September 11." The tape is expected to be made public as early as today. The amateurish video apparently meant for internal al-Qaida use - records a con- versation between bin Laden and a Saudi Arabian sheik, whom officials know little about and have declined to identify. Two bin Laden associates -- spiritual adviser Ayman al-Zawahri and spokesman Abu Ghaith - also appear in the tape, Durbin said. After reviewing it, Durbin and other senators on the intelligence committee called on the Bush administration to release the tape, which was found in an abandoned residence in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. "This is a basic acknowledgment by Osama bin Laden of his central role in the 9-11 planning of the events at the Trade towers and the Penta- gon," said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), vice chairman of the intelligence committee. "I believe the tapes ought to be released. The timing is up to our policymakers and the president. I believe it would explain to a lot of people that have been doubting Osama bin Laden's culpabili- ty that it's there." "Here are three men, sitting in what looks like a common room for at part of the world, calmly discussing the events o September 11 like it was last, weekend's gof game." - Sen. Richard J. Durbin D-I. Other senators expressed similar sentiments. "It tells me that he is culpable, that he clearly 'knew that Mohammad Atta was the leader, that he clearly knew what was going to happen before it happened," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D- Calif.). "The inference was that there was a plan to make it happen." Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said he hopes the tape will refute claims from bin Laden's support- ers that he was not behind the attacks and end rumors that other groups were responsible. He cited suspicions in Pakistan suggesting the attack was a Jewish plot to draw the United States into a war on Islam. "This video will open a lot of eyes," Wyden said. "The world will see that you are dealing with the level of pathology ... that is very, very twisted and sick." A P PHOTO Advancing Afghan anti-Taliban fighters search for al-Qaida fighters in the Milawa Valley of the White Mountains of northeastern Afghanistan yesterday. Anti-Taliban forces, backed by U.S. fighter jets, drove al-Qaida forces from their mountain top positions in intense fighting. CorneXre AIQaida fces still expe,&cted to surrner Michigan lawmakers propose anti-terror bill LANSING (AP) - A bill that would require background checks on flight school students is among a package of anti-terrorism bills intro- duced yesterday by legislative leaders. The package of 34 bills, introduced on the three-month anniversary of the Sept. I1 terrorist attacks, is intended to improve public safety. The bills give law enforcement agencies new tools to investigate threats and strengthen the state's response to emergencies. The bills were developed by House Speaker Rick Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, both Republicans, and House Minority Leader Kwame Kilpatrick and Senate Minority Leader John Cherry, who are Democrats. "This is a commonsense approach that protects the public without threatening civil liberties," Johnson, of LeRoy, said in a written statement. The package's main bill would define a terror- ist act as a violent felony that threatens, intimi- dates or coerces people or attempts to affect the conduct of government. Assets used to commit a terrorist act could be frozen under another bill in the package. Other measures in the legislation would: ® Require those convicted of a terrorism-relat- ed offense to reimburse municipalities for emer- gency response costs. M Require that applicants for drivers licenses and personal identification cards be U.S. citizens or legal aliens. * Set penalties for using the Internet with the intent of committing a terrorist act. A person convicted of such an offense could face up 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. * Require Michigan flight school operators to conduct background checks on potential stu- dents. TORA BORA, Afghanistan (AP) - A U.S. B-52 aircraft bombed Osama bin Laden's mountain refuge today about one hour after a deadline had passed for the sur- render of cornered al-Qaida forces. After the air raid, Mohammed Lal, a senior commander with the U.S-supported eastern alliance, told The Associated Press that the surrender had only been been delayed and was still expected to take place. "They are running late. But they have agreed to come down the mountain in groups of between 20 and 40 men," Lal said. "We are clearing the area to make a safe place for their surrender." He said the al-Qaida fighters would lay down their weapons and walk a short dis- tance to an alliance position where they would be searched. Trucks would then take them to the alliance's command post at Agom village, about three miles to the southeast, where they would be detained. Journalists were kept away from the mountainside canyon where al-Qaida forces were holed up. It was unclear whether the bombs directly hit the canyon. However, gunfire could be heard coming from the area. Lal said he did not know why the bombing had taken place or who had done the shooting. The eastern alliance, which overran al- Qaida's positions yesterday, gave their main- ly Arab opponents until 8 a.m. today (10:30 p.m. EST yesterday) to disarm and walk out of the Tora Bora area, saying they would otherwise face a massive attack. About 30 minutes after the surrender deadline had come and gone, the alliance's defense chief Mohammed Zaman said: "No Arabs have come out, yet." Zaman, who wants to hand the al-Qaida fighters over to the United Nations for pros- ecution, smiled and cocked his head when asked if U.S. military personnel were operat- ing in the area. U.S. warplanes also carried out bombing raids before dawn in the area today. And, as the surrender deadline passed, a B-52 bomber circled menacingly over Tora Bora, leaving a spiraling white vapor trail in the blue sky. It dropped its payload about an hour later. There was no immediate details on possi- ble casualties frbm the air raid. It was also unclear whether bin Laden was among the foreign fighters who were stranded in the canyon yesterday after a fierce tribal assault and devastating U.S. airstrikes, which included 15,000-pound "daisy cutters" bombs, flattened hillsides and scattered debris over the barren, wind- swept hills. Yesterday afternoon,-some of the foreign al-Qaida supporters had contacted tribal commanders by radio and pleaded for the chance to give up. Zaman agreed to a pause in the fighting after a radio conversation with al-Qaida fighters in the Pashtun language, monitored in part by an interpreter working for The Associated Press. Afterward, his representatives met some al-Qaida commanders whom he said begged the alliance: "Please don't fight us, we want to surrender." Still, Zaman said he was skep- tical all fighters would give up peacefully. Pentagon officials said the war against ter- rorism was far from over and that some al- Qaida members might be hiding in the underground network of caves and tunnels. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned that there might be holdouts willing to fight, saying, "a wounded animal can be dangerous." 6 I Reports of discrimination at work rise for Arabs, Muslims 6 The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The number of workplace discrimination complaints filed by Arab Americans, Muslims and Sikhs has more than doubled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis- sion reported yesterday. Between Sept. 11 and Dec. 6, offi- cials said the EEOC received 166 complaints of illegal discrimination from members of those groups, mostly involving Muslim workers who were fired from their jobs. During the same period one year ago, only 64 such *claims were filed. EEOC Chairwoman Cari Dominguez said at a public hearing at EEOC headquarters that no other topic could be "more timely and more appropriate." It was the first hearing she has held since becoming head of the commission in August. She and other commissioners said they would act vigorously to pursue such allegations. And they praised as a "success story" the action many com- panies took to tell employees after the attacks that harassment and anti-Arab discrimination would not be tolerated. She said most of the bias complaints occurred at companies with "no poli- cies and no preventive measures, allowing the employment environment to be infected by ethnic or religious prejudice." But there were different views at the hearing about how widespread the. problem is. Commissioner Paul Igasaki said he understands fears of racial stereotyp- ing because his mother was placed in a Japanese internment camp in Califor- nia during World War II. But he noted that despite the surge in numbers, the EEOC - which gets' 80,000 com- plaints a year - has received a "rela- tively small number" of complaints. He said the agency has had "trouble getting cases we can move" into the courts. Members of immigrant advocacy groups, in contrast, testified that the sta- tistics understate the magnitude of the problem. Arshad Majid, an official of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers, said his organization is aware of "hundreds, thousands" of such cases, which he called "incredibly troubling." q (773)-404-9900 2638 HoIsted Chicago, IL 60614 The Apartment S!irr~p. Students get $50 off (or recent graduates) (Restrictions apply) " We have listings/Apartments in Chicago's most popular locations It's a free service Our agents drive you to each location and are knowledgeable about the Chicago area We have a variety of apartments including: Studios Scientists discussed nukes with bin Laden 4 The Washington Post ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Two Pakistani nuclear scientists reportedly have told investigators they conducted long discussions about nuclear, chemi- mic" and said they have no evidence the information resulted in the creation or production of any type of weapon. 'The reported admissions by Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, who held key appointments in each of Pakistan's A