Jailed Moussaoui curses America

A defiant Zacarias Moussaoui shouted "God curse America" in the US courtroom where he was sentenced to life in prison yesterday, after family members of September 11 victims angrily confronted him.

Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a US court in relation to the hijackings, listened as three family members came forward, including one whose husband died in the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon.

"For you I feel nothing but disgust," said Rosemary Dillard. "I hope that you sit in that jail without seeing the sky, without seeing the sun... and that your name never comes up in the newspaper again."

The dramatic scene and Moussaoui's sentencing marked the end of four-and-a-half years of legal wrangling over his fate.

In what were likely his last public remarks before being sent to a maximum-security prison, Moussaoui used his opportunity to address the court to utter the curse against America he has sounded almost daily in his two-month sentencing trial.

"God curse America and save Osama bin Laden! You'll never get him," the confessed al Qaeda operative said.

Minutes later, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of release.