Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who has been sought by the U.S. for over a decade is in federal court today. He was apprehended while traveling from Turkey to Jordan and will be tried in New York City. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News
Osama bin Laden?s son-in-law, who warned in a video after the Sept. 11 attacks that ?the storms shall not stop,? was due in a New York courtroom Friday to face a charge of conspiring to kill Americans.
The man, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was captured in the last month in Turkey and taken to New York in what will be one of the first prosecutions of senior al-Qaida leaders in the United States. Prosecutors said that he was also an al-Qaida spokesman.
On Thursday, after the detention became public, some lawmakers were caught by surprise and said that the Obama administration was dodging Congress. They said that Abu Ghaith should have been taken to the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
?When we find somebody like this, this close to bin Laden and the senior al-Qaida leadership, the last thing in the world we want to do, in my opinion, is put them in civilian court,? said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
Abu Ghaith was expected to appear in court later Friday morning to enter a plea on the conspiracy charge.
In an indictment of Abu Ghaith, federal prosecutors said that he was so close to bin Laden that the terrorist mastermind summoned him for help on the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, in Afghanistan.
Officials tell NBC News he had been a prisoner in Iran for most of the past decade and is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Abu Ghaith and bin Laden appeared together on the morning of Sept. 12, and Abu Ghaith warned the United States that a ?great army is gathering against you? and called on Muslims to do battle with Christians, Jews and Americans.
Later, in the weeks after 9/11, Abu Ghaith warned Americans that ?the storms shall not stop, especially the airplanes storm,? and said that Muslims and opponents of the United States should not board plans or live in high rises.
Kuwait stripped Abu Ghaith of citizenship after Sept. 11. The following year, under pressure as the U.S. military hunted bin Laden, Abu Ghaith was smuggled into Iran from Afghanistan, prosecutors said.
Whether terror suspects should be tried in the United States or in American military courts has been a matter of contention. President Barack Obama said when he took office in 2009 that he wanted more foreign terror suspects tried in civilian courts.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said that it was fine with him that Abu Ghaith was taken to New York because state and city officials had been consulted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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