Osama Bin Laden's Son-In-Law Gets Life Prison Term In NY
By CBS/AP, Sept. 23, 2014, Cbsnews.com
NEW YORK -- Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for acting as al Qaeda's spokesman after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was the highest-ranking al Qaeda figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks. The Kuwaiti cleric became the voice of al Qaeda recruitment videos after the 2001 attacks. He testified at trial that his role was strictly religious.
Abu Ghaith was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who said he saw "no remorse whatsoever" from the 48-year-old imam.
"You continue to threaten," the judge said. "You sir, in my assessment, still want to do everything you can to carry out al Qaeda's agenda of killing Americans."
Defense attorney Stanley Cohen asked the judge to impose a 15-year sentence. A prosecutor called for life in prison.
Abu Ghaith was convicted in March on conspiracy charges that he answered Osama 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 commercial jets on Sept. 11.
"The storm of airplanes will not stop," the Kuwaiti imam warned in an October 2001 video that was played for the jury.
Jurors also saw frames of a video made Sept. 12, 2001, in which Abu Ghaith was seated next to bin Laden and two other top al Qaeda leaders as they tried to justify the attacks.
Taking the witness stand in his own defense, Abu Ghaith calmly denied he was an al Qaeda 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 Sept. 11, 2001, out of respect for bin Laden's standing as a sheik.
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| Osama Bin Laden and son in law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith Source: CBS New York / AP / Getty |
NEW YORK -- Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for acting as al Qaeda's spokesman after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was the highest-ranking al Qaeda figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks. The Kuwaiti cleric became the voice of al Qaeda recruitment videos after the 2001 attacks. He testified at trial that his role was strictly religious.
Abu Ghaith was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who said he saw "no remorse whatsoever" from the 48-year-old imam.
"You continue to threaten," the judge said. "You sir, in my assessment, still want to do everything you can to carry out al Qaeda's agenda of killing Americans."
Defense attorney Stanley Cohen asked the judge to impose a 15-year sentence. A prosecutor called for life in prison.
Abu Ghaith was convicted in March on conspiracy charges that he answered Osama 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 commercial jets on Sept. 11.
"The storm of airplanes will not stop," the Kuwaiti imam warned in an October 2001 video that was played for the jury.
Jurors also saw frames of a video made Sept. 12, 2001, in which Abu Ghaith was seated next to bin Laden and two other top al Qaeda leaders as they tried to justify the attacks.
Taking the witness stand in his own defense, Abu Ghaith calmly denied he was an al Qaeda 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 Sept. 11, 2001, out of respect for bin Laden's standing as a sheik.
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