[h=3]By CHAD BRAY[/h]
A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and longtime suspected member of al Qaeda has been captured by U.S. officials. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, shown here in an undated videotape broadcast in 2002 by the Dubai-based MBC, has been brought to New York to face charges. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.
A son-in-law of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in New York on Friday, marking a coup for U.S. counterterrorism officials.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, described by U.S. officials as a 47-year-old former teacher and preacher, was charged in a one-count indictment made public late Thursday with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, namely for his role as the onetime spokesman for al Qaeda, the terrorist organization run by his late father-in-law. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Mr. Abu Ghaith has been talking with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents for several days in New York City, according to people familiar with the case. He was captured in Jordan after leaving Iran, which has sheltered members of al Qaeda in the past.
He was never an operational commander in the organization but was the voice of al Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to terrorism experts.
Friday's court appearance isn't expected to be lengthy. A lawyer will likely be appointed for him, and he will be asked to enter a not-guilty plea. As a foreign national and defendant charged with a conspiracy related to crimes of violence, it is unlikely he will receive bail.
The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Judge Kaplan presided over the 2010 trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was convicted of a single count of conspiracy in the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa but acquitted on 281 other counts. Mr. Ghailani was the first and only former detainee at Guantanamo Bay to go to trial in the U.S.
The acquittal of Mr. Ghailani on the majority of charges boosted arguments of critics who have maintained that military tribunals, and not civilian courts, are the proper venues for major terrorism trials.
According to the indictment, Mr. Abu Ghaith appeared with Mr. bin Laden the day following the Sept. 11 attacks and stated that a "great army" was gathering against the U.S. In another statement, he advised Muslims, children and opponents of the U.S. "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises," according to the indictment.
In a videotaped message in October 2001, Mr. Abu Ghaith later warned Americans that "the storms of planes will not stop until you drag your defeated tails from Afghanistan, not until you raise your hands from the Jews in Palestine, not until you lift the embargo on the Iraqi people, not until you leave the Arabian Peninsula, not until you stop supporting the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir.''
He was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship following the release of that video.
—Devlin Barrett, Siobhan Gorman and Tamer El-Ghobashy contributed to this article.Write to Chad Bray at [email protected]
A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and longtime suspected member of al Qaeda has been captured by U.S. officials. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, shown here in an undated videotape broadcast in 2002 by the Dubai-based MBC, has been brought to New York to face charges. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.
A son-in-law of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in New York on Friday, marking a coup for U.S. counterterrorism officials.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, described by U.S. officials as a 47-year-old former teacher and preacher, was charged in a one-count indictment made public late Thursday with conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, namely for his role as the onetime spokesman for al Qaeda, the terrorist organization run by his late father-in-law. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Mr. Abu Ghaith has been talking with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents for several days in New York City, according to people familiar with the case. He was captured in Jordan after leaving Iran, which has sheltered members of al Qaeda in the past.
He was never an operational commander in the organization but was the voice of al Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to terrorism experts.
Friday's court appearance isn't expected to be lengthy. A lawyer will likely be appointed for him, and he will be asked to enter a not-guilty plea. As a foreign national and defendant charged with a conspiracy related to crimes of violence, it is unlikely he will receive bail.
The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Judge Kaplan presided over the 2010 trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was convicted of a single count of conspiracy in the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa but acquitted on 281 other counts. Mr. Ghailani was the first and only former detainee at Guantanamo Bay to go to trial in the U.S.
The acquittal of Mr. Ghailani on the majority of charges boosted arguments of critics who have maintained that military tribunals, and not civilian courts, are the proper venues for major terrorism trials.
According to the indictment, Mr. Abu Ghaith appeared with Mr. bin Laden the day following the Sept. 11 attacks and stated that a "great army" was gathering against the U.S. In another statement, he advised Muslims, children and opponents of the U.S. "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises," according to the indictment.
In a videotaped message in October 2001, Mr. Abu Ghaith later warned Americans that "the storms of planes will not stop until you drag your defeated tails from Afghanistan, not until you raise your hands from the Jews in Palestine, not until you lift the embargo on the Iraqi people, not until you leave the Arabian Peninsula, not until you stop supporting the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir.''
He was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship following the release of that video.
—Devlin Barrett, Siobhan Gorman and Tamer El-Ghobashy contributed to this article.Write to Chad Bray at [email protected]