The jury selected for the trial of Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghayth has heard opening statements from US prosecutors who said that the defendant is a knowing, hing-ranking al-Qaeda officer who have plotted scheme to harm US citizens. Aside from arguing Abu Ghayth in bin Laden's terrorist organization on the basis of a file video showing him sitting side by side with the terrorist leader and his then-deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, prosecutors also said that there is video evidence that Abu Ghayth had spoken on behalf of al-Qaeda threatening the American people about imminent terrorist acts.
In the said video Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara courtesy of the US said was recorded on September 12, 2001, Abu Ghayth cautioned America that it would be facing danger from its purported enemies, and called out all of Islam to fight against Jews, Christians and US nationals.
Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Lewin told jurors at the trial today, "Osama bin Laden asked him to deliver al-Qaeda's murderous decree to the entire world. While our buildings still burned, he agreed."
Bloomberg said Abu Ghayth has been charged with two conspiracy-related charges with al-Qaeda and could face lifetime imprisonment if found guilty. Earlier, his defense team argued that he was wrongly charged and that a man currently detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison is the one whom prosecutors should have filed charges with. The news agency said Abu Ghayth has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Abu Ghayth was captured by US authorities after a ten-year manhunt while en route to travel from Jordan to Kuwait. He was later extradited March last year. The defendant allegedly took an oath to serve bin Laden's al-Qaeda in the middle 2000s and was knowledgeable about a plot to blow up aircraft. Bloomberg also said that he also knew the botched suicide bombing attempt by Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight in December 2001. Reid reportedly hid explosives in his shoes prior to taking the said flight.
