The latest from AP:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema sent Zacarias Moussaoui to prison for life Thursday, to “die with a whimper,” for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He declared: “God save Osama bin Laden “” you will never get him.”…
Brinkema firmly refused to be interrupted by the 37-year-old defendant as she disputed his claim that his life sentence meant America had lost and he had won.
“Mr. Moussaoui, when this proceeding is over, everyone else in this room will leave to see the sun … hear the birds … and they can associate with whomever they want,” she said.
She went on: “You will spend the rest of your life in a supermax prison. It’s absolutely clear who won.”
And she said it was proper he will be kept away from outsiders, unable to speak publicly again.
“Mr. Moussaoui, you came here to be a martyr in a great big bang of glory,” she said, “but to paraphrase the poet T.S. Eliot, instead you will die with a whimper.”…
“You will never get a chance to speak again and that’s an appropriate ending.”
Brinkema sentenced Moussaoui to six life terms without the chance of parole…
Moussaoui walked into the courtroom flashing a victory sign. “God save Osama bin Laden “” you will never get him,” he said.
“You have branded me as a terrorist or a criminal or whatever,” he said. “Look at yourselves. I fight for my belief.” He spoke for less than five minutes; the judge told him he could not use his sentencing to make a political speech.
French authorities said Thursday they may eventually press the United States to have Moussaoui serve his life sentence in France under two conventions on the transfer of convicts. They were waiting to hear the conditions of his sentencing.
Moussaoui’s mother Aicha El Wafi, pressed for her country to intervene. “Now he is going to die in little doses,” she said. “He is going to live like a rat in a hole. What for? They are so cruel.”…
From the White House, President Bush said Wednesday the verdict “represents the end of this case but not an end to the fight against terror.” He said Moussaoui got a fair trial and the jury spared his life, “which is something that he evidently wasn’t willing to do for innocent American citizens.”…