ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A second week of jury selection in the death penalty trial of confessed al-Qauida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui began Tuesday with the judge saying she hopes to have a final pool of potential jurors selected by week's end.

About a third of the 85 potential jurors has been selected so far, and U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is stepping up the pace of vetting people to speed the process even more.

Brinkema approved 32 jurors for service in 2 1/2 days of questioning last week in which jurors were quizzed about their views on the death penalty, their knowledge of Moussaoui and al-Qaida and their feelings about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, among other issues.

Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida to fly planes into U.S. buildings. But he denies any involvement in 9/11 and says he was training to fly a plane into the White House as part of a possible future attack.

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A pool of 85 jurors is needed because prosecutors and defense lawyers will each be permitted to use up to 30 peremptory -- or unexplained -- strikes to help whittle the pool down to the final panel of 18 -- 12 plus six alternates -- that will hear opening statements March 6.

Lawyers may use their peremptory challenges to strike a juror for any reason they choose, except that they cannot strike a juror solely on the basis of race or gender. Lawyers do not have to explain why they strike a juror.

Brinkema said the pace of jury selection has exceeded her expectations and she planned to bring in more jurors this week -- 31 each day -- than she did last week, when she summoned 24 a day.

Last week, 24 prospective jurors were struck for various reasons. Most often, jurors were struck because of strongly held views on the death penalty -- either for or against -- or because of pragmatic issues of serving on a trial that could last up to three months.