The US government last night said it would not allow accused Septempter 11th conspirator Mr Zacarias Moussaoui to question a captured al-Qaeda operative.
Federal prosecutors said the questioning of Mr Ramzi binal-Shaibah - a key al-Qaeda member suspected of coordinatingthe hijacked airline attacks - could jeopardise nationalsecurity.
They also said US District Judge Leonie Brinkema must nowdismiss the indictment "unless the court finds that theinterests of justice can be served by another action".
Should the government be forced to permit Mr Moussaoui access to Mr al-Shaibah, it could decide to drop the criminal charges and instead put him before a military tribunal.