Bin Laden son-in-law, spokesman arrested
This frame grab from the Saudi-owned television network MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center) shows Osama bin Laden in a videotape broadcast by the Dubai-based MBC 17 April 2002. In the video bin Laden hailed the economic losses suffered by the United States as a result of the September 11 suicide attacks on Washington and New York in the tape which was reportedly recorded in December. “God ordered us to terrorize the infidels, and we terrorized the infidels,” said the spokesman of bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, in the same tape, claiming the group’s responsibility for the September 11 suicide attacks.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, said to be a spokesman and the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, has been arrested and will be tried in New York City.
According to BBC News, Ghaith was captured within the last week in Jordan. US officials also said he played a role in planning the 9/11 attacks.
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He has been taken into US custody and will appear in a New York court on Friday, reported The New York Times. He faces many charges, including material support for terrorism and conspiracy to kill Americans.
"I commend our CIA and FBI, our allies in Jordan, and President Obama for their capture of al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith," said Rep. Peter King, the chairman of the Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and a member of the Homeland Security Committee, who first announced the news, according to NBC News. "I trust he received a vigorous interrogation, and will face swift and certain justice."
The Times also noted that Ghaith's capture is a rare case of an al Qaeda member being detained overseas rather than killed. Targeted killings are said to be approved only when there is no possibility of capture.