Zacarias Moussaoui told a Muslim militant he dreamed of crashing a plane into the White House, according to testimony at the al-Qaeda conspirator's death penalty trial in the US.Singapore-born Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, a member of the radical Indonesia-based group Jemaah Islamiah, said in testimony recorded in 2002 that he hosted a man he knew only as "John" in Kuala Lumpur in mid-2000, who told him of the dream.
Jurors in the Virginia-based trial later saw Bafana assert during cross-examination that "John" was Moussaoui.
Moussaoui is the first person tried in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, and he has admitted conspiring to fly planes into US buildings for al-Qaeda.
Though he was in detention at the time of the attacks, prosecutors argue Moussouai should be executed, because he knew Osama bin Laden's group planned to use airliners as weapons, but did not tell US authorities.
A video recording of prosecutors and Moussaoui questioning Bafana in 2002 was played at the trial. In it Bafana identified Moussaoui as the man who told of the dream.
The witness, who gave testimony while he was in jail in Singapore, was asked to relate a conversation he had with "John" in his house. "He told me he had a dream, flying an airplane into the White House," Bafana said.
During his cross-examination Moussaoui asked Bafana to describe "John". "He looks exactly like you," Bafana replied.
Moussaoui asked Bafana if he was sure and he replied: "Certain, I am sure it is you."
He went on: "There is no doubt it is you. We always referred to you as John among the JI members."
Bafana said "John" attempted to get flying lessons in Kuala Lumpur, but they were expensive, so instead he busied himself trying to find ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder for explosives.
He said he was later told by "John" that he was leaving Malaysia after a conversation with "brothers" in Europe.
"He said he had managed to get some brothers to assist him for flying training in the US because it would be cheaper in the US," he said.
The US commission which investigated the September 11 attacks concluded that Moussaoui was ordered to undergo flight training in Malaysia in late 2000 by September 11 mastermind Khaled Sheihk Mohammed, but was unable to find a school he liked.
The prosecution must prove that acts by Moussaoui directly contributed to deaths on September 11 for him to be eligible for the death penalty.
If jurors unanimously agree he is guilty, they will be asked to consider recommending capital punishment. The alternative sentence is life in prison, without possibility of parole.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last year to six counts of conspiring to fly airliners into US buildings - but maintains he was involved in a follow-up plot to September 11, not the attacks on New York and Washington.
Hang him NOW!