The Justice Department has denied a request by Zacarias Moussaoui, the only prisoner ever convicted in the United States of having ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to serve the remainder of his life sentence in his native France.

Moussaoui had made the application from the supermax prison in Colorado, using a process that is routinely available to foreign nationals held as U.S. prisoners.

Then on Wednesday, two relatives of people killed in the attacks said they were notified by the Justice Department that the request was denied. “Our office appreciates your concerns and comments regarding Zacarias Moussaoui,” the email said. “I am notifying you that Mr. Moussaoui’s application to transfer to France was denied on July 26, 2024.”

For a time after Sept. 11, U.S. officials theorized he was the would-be 20th hijacker in the attacks carried out by 19 men, but later dropped that assertion.

— The New York Times