Moussaoui tip 'earns $5m reward'

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An instructor at a US flight school attended by convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui has received $5m for alerting authorities, reports say.

Clarence Prevost was awarded the payout as part of the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" programme, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The programme seeks information about plans to attack US interests.

Mr Prevost testified during the trial of Moussaoui, the only person charged in the US over the 9/11 attacks.

The former Navy pilot, 69, had become suspicious of Moussaoui, an inexperienced pilot seeking commercial jetliner training.

He had urged his managers at the Pan Am International Flight Academy outside Minneapolis to call the FBI in August 2001.

Secret ceremony

Although the State Department has a policy of not naming recipients of such awards, two Bush administration officials told AP Mr Prevost had received the payout during a closed ceremony.

At Moussaoui's trial, Mr Prevost testified that an FBI agent had visited the flight school to interview him shortly after he raised the alarm.

A Frenchman of Moroccan descent, Moussaoui was arrested on an immigration violation a month before the 9/11 attacks.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy in April 2005 and said he was to have been part of a second wave of hijackings.

He was sentenced to life in prison for his role in planning the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.