In Thursday's hearing Moussaoui, 37, is expected to be offered the chance to make a statement -- and he is sure to seize a final platform, for what he has described as Al-Qaeda "propaganda."

True to his stormy and unpredictable character, Moussaoui shouted "America you lost ... I won," as he was led from court.

Relatives of September 11 victims, more than 40 of whom testified for the prosecution, and 12 for the defense had mixed reactions. Many were just happy that the trial was over.

"I am glad to see this will be the last day that Mr Moussaoui is in the headlines," said Carrie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque, was a passenger on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

"He deserves to rot in jail," she added.

Prosecutors signalled they will not make a new attempt to secure a death penalty. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said "the jury has spoken and we respect and accept this verdict and we thank them for their service."

President George W. Bush issued a statement however in which he said the United States would "stay on the offensive" in its global "war on terror."

"The end of this trial represents the end of this case, but not an end to the fight against terror," he said.

The jury reached their decision after more than 40 hours of deliberations spread over seven days.

The jury did not "unanimously find a sentence of death should be imposed on the defendant," Judge Brinkema said after opening the large orange envelope containing the verdict.

Moussaoui, a Frenchman, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to hijack planes for Al-Qaeda and flying them into prominent US buildings.

He was detained in August 2001 but prosecutors had argued that his "lethal lies" while in detention had helped the Al-Qaeda hijackers go ahead with the September 11 attacks unhindered.

The jury agreed in the first phase of the trial that Moussaoui had contributed toward the deaths and so was eligible for the death penalty.

But it did not come up with the unanimous verdict needed to recommend execution. Court documents did not indicate how many jurors favoured death, if any. But three jurors inserted a paragraph in the verdict form stating that they believed Moussaoui had "limited" knowledge of the September 11 plan.

In court, Moussaoui refused an order to stand for the verdict. He sat calmly in his chair as Brinkema said the jury had ruled for life in prison.

Moussaoui gave a 'V' for victory sign to the defence lawyers he refused to cooperate with throughout the hearings.

After the jury had gone and he was being led out of the court, Moussaoui shouted: "America you lost, David Novak (the prosecutor) you lost ... I won."

Moussaoui stunned the trial by claiming that he knew the World Trade Center was a key target and that would have flown a hijacked jet into the White House on September 11, had he not been arrested weeks earlier.

His statements conflicted with all previous accounts of the strikes, as well as with Moussaoui's own earlier admission that he was to have been part of a second wave of attacks.

His lawyers said Moussaoui's claims were overblown, that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, that he was only involved in the plot "in his dreams," and that he wanted to become an Al-Qaeda "martyr."

Moussaoui is expected to go to the "supermax" prison -- short for super maximum security -- in Florence, Colorado where a number of other Al-Qaeda followers serving life terms are held.

Though the defence won, the lawyers expressed their frustration, almost anger, at Moussaoui for his obstructive attitude.

"I haven't spoken to Mr Moussaoui in a long time and that's fine with me," said Ed MacMahon, one of the court appointed defence lawyers.

He said Moussaoui would soon be in an "abysmal" condition in the Colorado prison. "He's going to wake up with nobody to hate but himself."

"Moussaoui came to our country to die and now he's going to have to wait for a long time to do it," MacMahon declared.

The prosecution brought dozens of survivors of the September 11 attacks and the families of the victims to court to portray the horror of the day. Heart-wrenching evidence was read and shown to the jury.

"Personally I'm disappointed. My son didn't see his 33rd birthday," said David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11.

"Among other things, he is a coward," Beamer told Fox News television. However, he said the jury fairly performed its duty.

Abraham Scott, whose wife Janice died when one plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, said he agreed with the jurors' decision and that it would bring him closure and help him move on with his life.

The French embassy said in a statement that the trial had been carried out in "exemplary fashion," while also revealing that Moussaoui has refused to meet French diplomats.

Moussaoui was the only person charged in this country in the four suicide jetliner hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Three jurors decided Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot and three described his role in the attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.

Without commenting directly on the jury's decision, Bush declared in the statement, "Evil will not have the final say. This great nation will prevail."

Bush was asked about the verdict after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Mr. Moussaoui got a fair trial," Bush said. "The jury convicted him to life in prison, where he will spend the rest of his life. In so doing, they spared his life, which is something that he evidently wasn't willing to do for innocent American citizens."

"As I think about the trial, I can't help but think about the families who lost a loved one on September the 11th," Bush said. "I think about the rescuers who tried to save lives in the burning buildings."

"And I know that it's really important for the United States to stay on the offence against these killers and bring them to justice," he said. "And those are my thoughts about the Moussaoui trial."

In his written statement, Bush said that "our thoughts today are with the families who lost loved ones."

Bush said the nation continues to grieve for the victims of Sept. 11.

"We are still deeply touched by the memory of rescuers who gave all, the passengers who ran a hijacked plane into the ground to prevent an even greater loss of life and the frightened souls who comforted one another during their final moments on earth."

Bush said, "The end of this trial represents the end of this case but not an end to the fight against terror."

"The enemy that struck our shores on September 11th is still active and remains determined to kill Americans," the president said. "We will stay on the offensive against the terrorists. We will end their ability to plot and plan. We will deny them safe haven and the ability to gain weapons of mass murder."

"In these four and a half years, with good allies at our side, the United States has killed or captured many terrorists, shut down training camps, broken up terror cells in our own country, and removed regimes that sponsored terror," the president said. "We have many dedicated men and women fully engaged in this fight in the military, intelligence and homeland security; law enforcement personnel; and federal investigators and prosecutors who gather the evidence, make the case and ensure that justice is done. They are doing superb work every day to remove this danger and to protect our country."

"We have had many victories, yet there is much left to do, and I will not relent in this struggle for the freedom and security of the American people," Bush said. "And we can be confident. Our cause is right, and the outcome is certain: Justice will be served. Evil will not have the final say. This great nation will prevail."

Last week, Italian MEP Claudio Fava said that the US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had carried out more than 1,000 secret flights in Europe since 2001 without any EU governments raising questions.

The United States has come under intense fire over the last year following press reports about numerous CIA flights suspected of carrying undeclared prisoners across European airspace since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The prisoners were reported to have been transitted through Europe en route to third countries in a process known as "rendition".

On Wednesday, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that the United States has the right to send prisoners to other countries but also the legal obligation to ensure it is not a place where the captives will be tortured.

"We all know renditions in and of itself is nothing extraordinary," he said.

The Council of Europe, a largely human rights watchdog organisation, has been investigating the allegations, as has a European Parliament special committee.

Bellinger was responding to a European Parliament probe which, while producing no firm evidence, concluded last month that more than 1,000 CIA flights had transited the EU and that the CIA had been responsible on several occasions for kidnapping and illegally detaining alleged terrorists on EU soil.

"The suggestion that intelligence flights are somehow engaged in illegal activity really undermines the cooperation between the United States and Europe," he told a news briefing.

EU lawmakers are due in Washington next week to probe allegations of secret detention centers and flights in Europe for terror suspects. Bellinger is among those they will meet.

Bellinger said he did not have any information as to how many flights there had been, but the suggestion that a large number had detainees aboard was "absurd."

"Someone needs to challenge that," he said. "It's not possible for the United States to prove a negative, but responsible European governments or responsible European officials simply need to say this has gotten out of hand."

"There is no evidence for the suggestion or implication that however many flights there have been that they have all got detainees on them or that an intelligence flight is engaged in some sort of improper activity."

RENDITION CASES RARE

He said there had been "very few" cases of renditions, or the transfer of terrorism suspects from one country to another, but declined to provide details.

So many allegations about intelligence flights were incorrect that the U.S. government had decided not to respond to specific charges, nor to give details of the purpose of every flight, given operational security requirements, he said.

"Intelligence activities by their very nature are simply carried out in secret because you don't want to tell the al Qaeda people that you may have captured their material or you are engaged in cooperation," he said.

Bellinger said there was "understandable uncomfortableness" about the holding of al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but there were not many suggestions as to an alternative.

"There have been a number of voices recently calling for closure of Guantanamo, but none of those who have called for closure of have suggested an alternative," he said.

A Washington Post report last year that the CIA had run secret prisons in Europe and flown suspects to states where they would have been tortured unleashed a spate of investigations, but none have so far produced a "smoking gun," or solid proof.

I'd like to take this opportunity to complain about the profoundly dishonest character of "attack journalism." Journalists are supposed to interview the subjects about which they write. Mr. Hitchens never contacted me about this piece. He never sought clarification of anything. He never asked permission to quote my private mail. Major journalists have a privileged position. Not just anyone can be published in Slate. Most academics could not get a gig there (I've never been asked to write for it). Hitchens is paid to publish there because he is a prominent journalist. But then he should behave like a journalist, not like a hired gun for the far Right, smearing hapless targets of his ire. That isn't journalism. For some reason it drives the Right absolutely crazy that I keep this little web log, and so they keep trotting out these clowns in amateurish sniping attacks. It is rather sad, that one person standing up to them puts them into such piranha-like frenzy.

The precise reason for Hitchens' theft and publication of my private mail is that I object to the characterization of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as having "threatened to wipe Israel off the map." I object to this translation of what he said on two grounds. First, it gives the impression that he wants to play Hitler to Israel's Poland, mobilizing an armored corps to move in and kill people.

But the actual quote, which comes from an old speech of Khomeini, does not imply military action, or killing anyone at all. The second reason is that it is just an inexact translation. The phrase is almost metaphysical. He quoted Khomeini that "the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time." It is in fact probably a reference to some phrase in a medieval Persian poem. It is not about tanks.

Since Mr. Hitchens wants to splash my private mail all over the internet against my will, as though he were himself an agent of the Bush Administration's electronic spying on the private conversations of Americans, I'm glad to share the message that encapsulates the results of our deliberations at Gulf2000.

However, during the hearing it was revealed that Mr Straw had decided to "reconsider separately" the case of the Iraq-born businessman Bisher al-Rawi, who is also being held at Guantánamo.

Mr al-Rawi, who came to Britain in 1985, has been held by the US for three years but is reported to have cooperated with British security services prior to his arrest in Gambia.

The judges were told there were facts in his case, which could not be discussed in open court, that meant "a specific, security-related request" would be made to the US government on his behalf.

There were currently no plans to make "general requests" on behalf of Mr el-Banna and Mr Deghayes.

Jackie Chase, a spokeswoman for Save Omar, the campaign for the release of Mr Deghayes, expressed disappointment at today's judgment.

"We are disappointed with this ruling because, while Guantánamo is condemned in general terms, the British government is not compelled to protect British residents held there indefinitely without trial or hope of justice," she said.

"It makes no legal or moral sense because Jack Straw has already agreed to make representations on behalf of one of the men, Bisher-al Rawi.

"It has been well documented in the press that Mr al-Rawi had been co-operating with MI5. Is this the price of release from Guantánamo? This is a terribly long way from justice."

Mr al-Rawi and his business partner Mr el-Banna, a Jordanian who was granted refugee status in 2000, were alleged to have been associated with al-Qaida through their connection with the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada.

Timothy Otty, representing the detainees, said Mr al-Rawi had been in contact with the cleric with the "express approval and encouragement of British intelligence", to whom he supplied information about him.

Intelligence operatives assured Mr al-Rawi that, should he get into trouble, they would intervene and assist him.

However, the British government was unwilling to make material available to him when a hearing on his case was held at Guantánamo.

Mr el-Banna was accused of being in possession of "a home-made electronic device" at the time of his arrest. His lawyers say it was a battery charger bought from Argos and cleared by the UK authorities before he went to Gambia.

They said Mr el-Banna has lost almost 100lb in weight and "has been traumatised by the fact that he is unable to see his children".

Mr Deghayes was detained in Pakistan, and his name was said to be on the FBI's "most wanted" list. However, his lawyers say the photograph in his file is of a "totally different individual".

They say he has been left virtually blind in one eye by the use of pepper spray and the gouging of his eye but is still being constantly subjected to high light levels.

The judges, Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Tugendhat, admitted that their decision might be "uncomfortable and unsatisfactory", but said the court could not require the government "to make a formal request" to the US over the detainees.

In a joint written judgment, they said: "That would be an interference in the relationship between sovereign states which could only be justified if a clear duty in domestic or international law had been identified ... there is no such duty in the present case."

They also said it was impossible for the court to properly evaluate what was happening at Guantánamo, but added that UK foreign policy was clearly to secure closure of the detention facility.

Christopher Greenwood QC, appearing for the foreign secretary, told the judges the government was "attaching considerable weight" to a denial by the US that torture or inhuman treatment had taken place at Guantánamo.

Nine British nationals who had been detained there have been flown back to the UK and released without charge.

Mr Otty said it did not seem too much to ask, considering those details, that all three of the Britons at Guantánamo should receive assistance from the Foreign Office.

That secret agreement, known as the "Operative Working Arrangement", was never presented to parliament because some parts of it were considered too favorable to the U.S.

In June 2005, the Swiss government felt it was high time to have cooperation with the U.S. authorities in a more defined manner.

So it asked the Justice and Police Ministry to come up with a new text, which was finally put together after negotiations with Washington.

"The issue of making this accord public proved a stumbling block during the negotiations but the Americans finally accepted it," said Swiss Justice and Police Minister Christoph Blocher.

The agreement of 2002 had been signed "in great emotion" to help in the fight against the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation, he added.

The new accord will be more precise and clear about cooperation in the fight against terrorism and its financing, according to SRI.

It foresees the exchange of law enforcement officials to create joint teams of investigators, who will only act when a criminal procedure has been opened in the two countries and given to a prosecutor.

The government also said that the new accord would contain severe restrictions on the use of information gathered by the investigators.

The new accord will have to be debated in the two houses of the Swiss parliament before it can come into operation.

The House of Representatives will discuss it first before the end of the year, SRI said.

This scenario is envisioned by AVID, a leading designer of unmanned aerial vehicles that is developing an innovative new, patent-pending UAV concept to fulfill two strategic homeland security missions with one platform.

The Virginia company is designing a 20-foot-long flying wing-shaped UAV - propelled by eight ducted fan engines - capable of high-endurance surveillance missions at cruise altitude. Once a target is detected from above, the UAV could release one of its engine pods in flight. This engine pod, now transformed into its own self-propelled, hover-capable vehicle, could track a target anywhere on the ground, over water, or even under bridges while the flying wing stays aloft to look for threats from the sky.

"This exciting and unconventional configuration has the potential tsurveillance is conducted," said Paul Gelhausen, chief technical officer and co-founder of AVID. "Our concept will provide an effective and reliable tool to help the Department of Homeland Security monitoour borders for people and materials that pose a threat to the security of the United States."

Each engine contains its own thrust, electrical power, aerodynamic controls and sensors in a compact package attached to the trailing edge of the flying wing. If an engine is not needed for power or for a surveillance mission, the engine could detach as a way to reduce weight and drag on the flying wing and therefore increase fuel efficiency on long-endurance missions. Just as it could descend to track suspicious activity on the gthe engine could land at a base, where it would be serviced independent of the flying wing and prepared for the next mission immediately.

"While both strategic and practical, we've also designed this vehicle to be reliable and easy to maintain," Gelhausen said. "The UAV's minimal flight controls and basic electrical system will pEach engine would essentially be a line replacement unit that can easily be serviced one at a time before the next mission rather than all engines at once like other designs. Overall, the system is expected to achieve better reliability and on-station performance than more conventional systems suchas Predator or Global Hawk."

The Department of Homeland Security is evaluating several UAVs for border security, Coast Guard and maritime missions, transportation security and protection of critical infrastructure. AVID currently is developing this unmanned airborne platform phase in partnership with NASA's Langley Research Center to meet these needs and provide a significant improvement in homeland defense capabilities through dedicated vehicles and associated sensors.