Amid unusually tight security, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law goes to trial tomorrow on charges he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaida's mouthpiece after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Spectators at the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on US soil since the attacks will pass through a metal detector before entering a Manhattan courtroom where prosecutors will try to prove to an anonymous jury that the one-time terror network spokesman tried to rally others to kill Americans.
Prosecutors say they plan to show jurors during their opening statement a picture of Abu Ghaith seated with bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders on the day after September 11, 2001, as they make statements about the attacks. They say Abu Ghaith described the circumstances of the filming in his post-arrest statement.
Also during the trial, prosecutors will show jurors post-Sept. 11 videos in which the charismatic bearded man promises more attacks on the United States as devastating as those that demolished the World Trade Center.
"The Americans must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop, God willing, and there are thousands of young people who are as keen about death as Americans are about life," Abu Ghaith said in an October 9, 2001, speech.
In one widely circulated propaganda video, Abu Ghaith can be seen sitting with bin Laden and current al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri against a rocky backdrop.
Defence lawyers for the balding and bearded defendant are offering some surprises in the case, including an assertion last week that some of the government's evidence relates to a detainee at Guantanamo Bay with a similar name to Abu Ghaith rather than to the defendant who has pleaded not guilty. US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Friday called the mistaken identity claim "utterly meritless.
