Feds praise verdict against bin Laden’s son-in-law

In this courtroom sketch, from left, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith stands next to his attorney, Stanley Cohen, as courtroom deputy Andrew Mohan, reads the verdict and Judge Lewis Kaplan, right, listens, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at federal court in New York. Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and the voice of fiery al-Qaida propaganda videotapes after the Sept. 11 attacks, was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to kill Americans for his role as the terror group's spokesman. The verdict came after about six hours of deliberation over two days in the case against Abu Ghaith, the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)
In this courtroom sketch, from left, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith stands next to his attorney, Stanley Cohen, as courtroom deputy Andrew Mohan, reads the verdict and Judge Lewis Kaplan, right, listens, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at federal court in New York. Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and the voice of fiery al-Qaida propaganda videotapes after the Sept. 11 attacks, was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to kill Americans for his role as the terror group's spokesman. The verdict came after about six hours of deliberation over two days in the case against Abu Ghaith, the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)
In this courtroom sketch, from left, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith stands next to his attorney, Stanley Cohen, as courtroom deputy Andrew Mohan, reads the verdict and Judge Lewis Kaplan, right, listens, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at federal court in New York. Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and the voice of fiery al-Qaida propaganda videotapes after the Sept. 11 attacks, was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to kill Americans for his role as the terror group’s spokesman. The verdict came after about six hours of deliberation over two days in the case against Abu Ghaith, the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)

By Larry Neumeister and Tom Hays
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law was convicted Wednesday for his role as al-Qaida’s fiery chief spokesman after 9/11 — a verdict prosecutors said vindicated the Obama administration’s strategy of bringing terror suspects to justice in civilian court.

A federal jury deliberated six hours over two days before finding 48-year-old Sulaiman Abu Ghaith guilty of charges that included conspiracy to kill Americans and providing support to al-Qaida.

Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti-born imam who married bin Laden’s eldest daughter about five years ago, is the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure brought to trial on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Prosecutors said he played a leading role in the terror organization’s post-9/11 propaganda videos, in which he and others gloated over the destruction and he warned of a “storm of airplanes” to follow.
He could get life in prison at sentencing Sept. 8.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said he hopes the verdict brings some comfort to al-Qaida victims.

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

Abu Ghaith’s lawyers had argued that he was being prosecuted for his words and associations — not his deeds — and that there was no evidence tying him to any of the terror plots that prosecutors suggested he knew about ahead of time.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the verdict was a success for the Obama administration’s policy of using the federal courts instead of military tribunals to handle terrorism cases.

“It would be a good thing for the country if this case has the result of putting that political debate to rest,” Holder said.