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- Jan 20, 2003
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WASHINGTON - The Bush administration paid a $5 million reward to a former Minnesota flight instructor who provided authorities with information that led to the arrest and conviction of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Two colleagues questioned why he got the money.
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The recipient, Clarence Prevost, was honored Thursday at a closed-door ceremony at the State Department, although the payout was secretly authorized last fall by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Justice Department, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.
The reward from the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program is the first and only one to date to a U.S. citizen related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the officials said.
It is also unusual because Moussaoui, who was imprisoned at the time of the attacks, was never named as a wanted suspect by the program. The program mainly seeks information about perpetrators or planners of terrorist acts against U.S. interests and citizens abroad.
The State Department would not identify the recipient, citing privacy and security concerns.
Two administration officials, however, said the reward went to Prevost, a key witness at Moussaoui's trial who has previously spoken out about his involvement in the case. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Prevost, 69, is a former Navy pilot who later flew for Northwest Airlines and goes by his nickname "Clancy." He was Moussaoui's flight instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy outside Minneapolis.
No one answered at an apartment listed for Clarence Prevost in a residential hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., an upscale Miami suburb. Calls to a number listed to Prevost were not answered....
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The recipient, Clarence Prevost, was honored Thursday at a closed-door ceremony at the State Department, although the payout was secretly authorized last fall by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Justice Department, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.
The reward from the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program is the first and only one to date to a U.S. citizen related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the officials said.
It is also unusual because Moussaoui, who was imprisoned at the time of the attacks, was never named as a wanted suspect by the program. The program mainly seeks information about perpetrators or planners of terrorist acts against U.S. interests and citizens abroad.
The State Department would not identify the recipient, citing privacy and security concerns.
Two administration officials, however, said the reward went to Prevost, a key witness at Moussaoui's trial who has previously spoken out about his involvement in the case. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Prevost, 69, is a former Navy pilot who later flew for Northwest Airlines and goes by his nickname "Clancy." He was Moussaoui's flight instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy outside Minneapolis.
No one answered at an apartment listed for Clarence Prevost in a residential hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., an upscale Miami suburb. Calls to a number listed to Prevost were not answered....
