U.S. prosecutors confirmed on Thursday night that Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law has been indicted and has been taken to New York to be arraigned on Friday. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who appeared in videos representing al Qaeda after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans. Abu Ghaith is the one of the highest-ranked al Qaeda officials to undergo a civilian trial in New York, where the courthouse is just blocks away from the World Trade Center. According to NBC News, Abu Ghaith was sent with a group of other al Qaeda operatives to Iran after the September 11th terrorist attacks, where they were promptly captured and detained. It's unclear how Abu Ghaith got to Turkey, where he was captured by the U.S.
Senator Lindsey Graham held a press conference on Thursday evening after news of Ghaith's capture and presence in New York was revealed, and made clear the the GOP wants Ghaith transferred to Gitmo. In the Associated Press video above, Graham also seems to be having a bit of a sad that the Obama administration had been -- you know, working -- and didn't make the GOP aware that the Democratic president was going to accomplish something...possibly making them look bad. C'est la vie.
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, has been "cooperating" and has already revealed "key intelligence" about the current status, personnel and finances of al Qaeda even before he was secretly spirited to New York City, U.S. officials told ABC News today.
"It is huge," said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "This is a man who is in the inner circle of bin Laden's al Qaeda operations and now we have him alive and he's talking."
Ghaith was moved to New York sometime last week after being transferred to Jordanian custody following his capture in Turkey.
He is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in New York City Friday, and faces charges including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, according to an indictment unsealed today.
