The Justice Department yesterday defied a federal court order and refused to allow a detained member of Al Quada appear as a witness in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Moussaoui had requested to appear at his trial Ramzi Binalshibh the self-described planner of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The Washington Post reports the federal judge may now be forced to drop the indictment against Moussaoui which could lead the government to try him by a secret military tribunal.