by TChris

For whatever reason, Zacarias Moussaoui testified that he had planned to fly a plane into the White House on Sept. 11 with Richard Reid. That testimony made no sense, as the government agreed today. Moussaoui's lawyers and the prosecution stipulated that this evidence would be placed before the jury in the death penalty phase of Mousaoui's trial:

"There is no information to indicate that Richard Reid had preknowledge of the 9/11 attacks or was instructed by al-Qaeda leadership to conduct an operation in coordination with Moussaoui." The document pointed out that Reid had left his possessions to Moussaoui in his will before Reid mounted a separate attack in December 2001 in which he tried to blow up a transatlantic flight with a bomb in his shoe.

"In the opinion of the FBI," the document said "if Reid was to be part of the same martyrdom operation as Moussaoui, it is unlikely he would have bequeathed his possessions to Moussaoui."

Update: (TL): The New York Times reports on the Government's concession that Reid was not involved here.