Bin Laden’s son-in-law convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans

The verdict came after about six hours of deliberation over two days in the case against Kuwaiti imam Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on US soil since the attacks.

As the verdict was read, Abu Ghaith remained composed as he had throughout the trial. Just before he was led out of the courtroom, he turned toward a spectator – a long-time friend from Kuwait – and smiled.

In a statement, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said he hoped the verdict brought some measure of comfort to victims of al-Qaida.

Mr Bharara said: “He was more than just Osama bin Laden’s propaganda minister.

“Within hours after the devastating 9/11 attacks, Abu Ghaith was using his position in al-Qaida’s homicidal hierarchy to persuade others to pledge themselves to al-Qaida in the cause of murdering more Americans.”

Defence lawyer Stanley Cohen emerged from court promising to appeal. Asked about his client, he said: “He was stoic. He was at ease. He has confidence this is not the end but the beginning.”

Abu Ghaith had testified during a three-week trial that he answered bin Laden’s request in the hours after the attacks to speak on the widely circulated videos used to recruit new followers willing to go on suicide missions like the 19 who hijacked four planes on September 11, 2001.

“The storm of airplanes will not stop,” Abu Ghaith warned in an October 2001 video that was played for the jury.

Also shown repeatedly to the jury during the trial were frames of a video made on September 12, 2001, that showed Abu Ghaith seated next to bin Laden and two other top al-Qaida leaders as they tried to justify the attacks.

Sentencing was set for September 8. The charges – conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiring to provide support to al-Qaida and providing support to al- Qaida – carry a potential penalty of life in prison.

On Monday, during closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney John Cronan underscored the importance of Abu Ghaith’s post-9/11 status.

“Going to that man was the very first thing Osama bin Laden did on September 11 after the terror attacks,” he said. “The defendant committed himself to al-Qaida’s conspiracy to kill Americans, and he worked to drive other people to that conspiracy.”

He added: “During the most important period of time in al-Qaida’s savage history, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was Osama bin Laden’s principal messenger. ... He used his fiery oratory to incite al- Qaida’s growing army of terror in this war with America.”

Captured in Jordan last year and brought to New York, Abu Ghaith actively participated in his trial. He listened to evidence and arguments through headphones linked to an Arabic translator.

Taking the witness stand in his own defence, he calmly denied he was an al-Qaida recruiter and claimed his role was a religious one aimed at encouraging all Muslims to rise up against their oppressors. He insisted he agreed to meet with bin Laden in a cave on the night of September 11 out of respect for bin Laden’s standing as a sheikh.