(19 Mar 2014) Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law decided to take the witness stand and recounted the night of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when the al-Qaida leader sent a messenger to drive him into a mountainous area for a meeting inside a cave in Afghanistan, in surprise testimony in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday.
The testimony came at Sulaiman Abu Ghaith’s trial on charges he conspired to kill Americans and aid al-Qaida as a spokesman for the group.
"Mr. Abu Ghaith has decided to use his right to testify in his own defence and he is telling his side of the story to the jury," defence lawyer Zoe Dolan told journalists outside the courtroom.
Abu Ghaith’s decision to take the witness stand surprised a nearly empty courtroom that quickly filled with spectators as word spread.
He told the court that al-Qaida leader bin Laden told him on the night of the Sept. 11 attacks: "We are the ones who did it."
The 48-year-old Kuwaiti-born defendant testified through an Arabic interpreter, and told of how he first went to Afghanistan in June 2001. He said he met bin Laden when the al-Qaida leader, who was living in Kandahar, Afghanistan, summoned him after hearing that he was a preacher from Kuwait.
"Mr. Abu Ghaith has testified about why and when he went to Afghanistan, he has testified about meeting Osama Bin Laden, and he has testified about giving speeches on videos, and he has testified about why he did those things," Zoe Dolan said.
The defendant testified that videos he made warning that there would be more attacks on Americans and trying to inspire others to join al-Qaida’s cause were religious in nature, and meant to encourage Muslims to fight oppression.
Abu Ghaith said his intention was not to recruit.
He also denied allegations by the government that he had prior knowledge of the failed shoe-bomb airline attack by Richard Reid in December 2001.
Abu Ghaith is married to bin Laden’s eldest daughter, Fatima. According to defence lawyers, they were married in 2008 or 2009.
The defendant looked relaxed on the witness stand, wearing a blue shirt, open at the collar, beneath a charcoal-coloured jacket. His hands were sometimes folded before him, though sometimes he waved or pointed them for emphasis.
The U.S. District judge did not immediately rule on the defence’s request that the defence be permitted to call Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed architect of the September 11 attacks, as a witness via a video link from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he is imprisoned.
"It is our understanding, that is the defence’s understanding, that Mr. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is in fact available and willing to testify about Mr. Abu Ghaith and other subjects that are important in this trial," Dolan said.
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