Kuwaiti Suleiman Abu Ghaith pleads not guilty of conspiring to kill Americans and gave 22-page post-arrest statement
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, appeared before a US federal court in New York on Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to kill Americans.
During a 15-minute arraignment hearing at the southern district court in lower Manhattan, close to where the September 11 attacks took place in 2001, Abu Ghaith spoke only to confirm that he understood his rights as a defendant.
Assistant US attorney John P Cronan said Abu Ghaith had given an "extensive post-arrest statement" that ran to 22 pages after his arrest. He gave no details about the the content of the statement.
Abu Ghaith's arrest was announced Thursday. But it emerged in court on Friday that the 47-year-old Kuwaiti was picked up by authorities just before midnight on 28 February. He was transferred to the United States the following day.
No details were given about the circumstances of his arrest. But it is believed that he entered Turkey about a month ago from Iran, and was identified in a luxury hotel in Ankara. Local authorities passed on information to US agencies and it is believed that Washington asked for access to interrogate Abu Ghaith before being transferred to the US.
His handover to the US reportedly took place in Jordan, from where he was flown to New York.
The decision to deal with Abu Ghaith in the US federal justice system, rather than the military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay, is in line with a commitment made by the Obama administration. "Our policy is that we will prosecute whenever feasible in the national security interests of the United States," a spokesman for the Justice Department said in a statement. But observers said it may also reflect the difficulty of pursuing a conspiracy charge in the military system.
In court, Abu Ghaith was led into the room with his hands cuffed behind his back. Dressed in a blue tunic and with balding head and short greying beard, he was flanked by two lawyers as he sat down in front of the judge.
In a brief overview of the indictment against him, US district judge Lewis Kaplan said that the defendant faces accusations that "in or about May 2001 to 2002 you conspired with others to kill US nationals".
Furthermore Abu Ghaith is accused of being summoned by Bin Laden on the evening of the September 11 attacks and asked to assist in the al-Qaida chief's campaign.
The following morning, Abu Ghaith, along with Bin Laden and then al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a video in which he warned the US that "a great army is gathering against you" and calling on "the nation of Islam" to fight "the Jews, the Christians and the Americans".
He later gave a speech in which he warned Muslims "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises". Friday's court session took place on the ninth floor of a building just a few blocks from the site of the World Trade Centre, where nearly 3,000 people died in the worst terrorist atrocity to have been carried out on US soil.
Confirming the arrest on Thursday, the attorney general, Eric Holder, said that "no amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice".
No trial date was set for Abu Ghaith on Friday. Lawyers were given a 30-day period to continue to transcribe unclassified documents and review classified documents being released by the government.
Abu Ghaith's lawyer, Philip Weinstein, said he pleaded not guilty to the charges. He will remain in custody.