Friday, March 8, 2013

Osama Bin Laden's spokesman and son-in-law captured in Jordan - and will appear in New York court TOMORROW

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law is in U.S. custody and has been 'cooperating' and has already revealed 'key intelligence about the status, personnel and finances of al Qaeda, according to a report by ABC News.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was arrested in a dramatic take-down by CIA officials in Jordan several days ago, and is now being held in a detention facility somewhere in the New York City area.
Abu Ghaith has been charged with participating in a conspiracy to kill Americans in relation to the 9/11 attacks, according to a newly-unsealed indictment.
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Al-Qaeda spokesman and Bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith has been captured in Jordan
'Very significant victory': Al-Qaeda spokesman and Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith has been captured in Jordan
Proximity: This map shows the distance between the World Trade Center site and U.S. District Court, where Abu Ghaith may stand trial
Proximity: This map shows the distance between the World Trade Center site and U.S. District Court, where Abu Ghaith may stand trial
He is scheduled for his arraignment in U.S. District Court tomorrow before Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The court is located less than a mile from the World Trade Center towers, which were destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks.
He will be the closest bin Laden associate to face a trial in New York.
Others, including 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are being tried by a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Day in court: Abu Ghaith's trial will most likely be in U.S. District Court, pictured, less than a mile from the site of the 9/11 attacks
Day in court: Abu Ghaith's trial will most likely be in U.S. District Court, pictured, less than a mile from the site of the 9/11 attacks
Attorney General Holder said in a statement: 'No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice. To violent extremists who threaten the American people and seek to undermine our way of life, this arrest sends an unmistakable message: There is no corner of the world where you can escape from justice because we will do everything in our power to hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'
Records compiled by a United Nations sanctions committee show that Abu Ghaith was born in Kuwait in 1965, but that he left Kuwait for Pakistan in June 2001.
At one point, he married one of bin Laden's daughters. Her identity was not immediately known.
After the September 11 attacks, Abu Ghaith first surfaced as one of al-Qaeda's main spokesmen.
Later, U.S. officials believe he was part of a group of top figures in the group that included one of bin Laden's sons, Saad, who allegedly traveled to Iran, where the Iranian government claimed they were 'in custody.'
The Long War Journal, a counterterrorism blog published by the conservative Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, reported in 2010 that Abu Ghaith had been released by Iranian authorities and supposedly had returned to Afghanistan.
Senior Republican Rep Peter King announced Ghaith's arrest on Thursday, hailing it as a 'very significant victory' in the ongoing fight against al-Qaeda.
King, the former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said the CIA and FBI had caught Ghaith within the last week.
He said the arrest was confirmed by U.S. law enforcement officials.
Ghaith had allegedly taken part in the September 11 plot against the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
'Definitely, one by one, we are getting the top echelons of al-Qaeda,' King said on Thursday.
Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan
Osama bin Laden in a room in his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, watching TV with his remote control. Undated video frame grab released 07 May 2011 by the US Department of Defense
Hunted down: Osama Bin Laden, left, was killed in 2011 in Pakistan after years of searching. The terror leader is shown at right, watching himself on TV in his secret compound
Wanted: Ghaith had been considered 'stateless' since since he lost his Kuwaiti citizenship after videos emerged showing him praising the September 11 attacks
Wanted: Ghaith had been considered 'stateless' since since he lost his Kuwaiti citizenship after videos emerged showing him praising the September 11 attacks
'I give the (Obama) administration credit for this: it's steady and it's unrelenting and it's very successful.'Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported that Ghaith was passing through Jordan, on his way to Kuwait from Turkey when he was apprehended.
The newspaper said that Ghaith was initially taken into custody more than a month ago at a luxury hotel in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Turkish officials decided he had not committed any crime in Turkey and released him the newspaper reported.
Terror: After the September 11 attacks, Abu Ghaith first surfaced as one of al-Qaeda's main spokesmen
Terror: After the September 11 attacks, Abu Ghaith first surfaced as one of al-Qaeda's main spokesmen
A Turkish court reportedly ruled that Abu Ghaith entered the country illegally from Iran on a fake passport and was ordered to be deported.
As a result of that ruling, Abu Ghaith was seized in Jordan by CIA agents while en route to Kuwait.
Ghaith had been considered 'stateless' since since he lost his Kuwaiti citizenship after videos emerged showing him praising the September 11 attacks.
However, Turkish officials refused to confirm Ghaith's deportation or his capture in Jordan to The Associated Press.
In Amman, the Jordanian capital, a security official said he had no information on the CIA arrest.
U.S. intelligence officials in Washington did not immediately respond to request for information about Ghaith either.
'I trust he received a vigorous interrogation, and will face swift and certain justice,' Congressman King added.

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