Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the son-in-law of Osama bin laden who once served as a spokesman for al-Qaeda, has been captured and brought to the US, where he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in a court on Friday after being charged with conspiracy to kill Americans.
Ghaith, 47, who is married to one of bin laden's daughters, Fatima, appeared before Judge lewis A Kaplan of US District Court in the cavernous ceremonial courtroom in lower Manhattan, only blocks from the site of the 9/11 terror attack.
Ghaith, a slight, trim man with a grey beard and dressed in a blue prison smock, barely spoke aside from some one-word replies to questions from the judge during the 20-minute arraignment. His lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf, the New York Times reported.
An indictment released by the US authorities charged Abu Ghaith with conspiracy to kill US nationals. He was accused of threatening additional attacks against the US.
From at least May 2001 up to around 2002, Abu Ghaith served alongside bin laden, speaking on behalf of the terrorist organisation and in support of its mission, and warning that attacks similar to 9/11 would continue, said the indictment.
Abu Ghaith is thought to have spent a decade in Iran, after having been smuggled out from Afghanistan into that country in 2002.
"No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice," US Attorney General Eric Holder said, noting this latest arrest sends an "unmistakable message" that "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".
Preet Bharara, the high-profile Indian-American Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said this action is "the latest example of our commitment to capturing and punishing enemies of the United States, no matter how long it takes".
Citing US officials, The New York Times reported that Abu Ghaith was originally detained last month while staying in a hotel in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, after having crossed the border from Iran.
The Turkish officials, however, turned down US demands for custody, instead opting to deport him to his home country of Kuwait. But American officials managed to take him into custody in Amman during a stopover.
According to the indictment filed in a US federal court in New York, Abu Ghaith had around May 2001 urged individuals at a guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swear allegiance to Bin laden. On the morning after the 9/11 attacks that year, he appeared with Bin laden and his second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, and speaking on behalf of al Qaeda, warned the US and its allies that a "great army" was gathering against them. He called upon "the nation of Islam" to do battle against "the Jews, the Christians and the Americans", said the indictment.
It went on to say that in a speech, he warned the then US Secretary of State that "the storms shall not stop, especially the Airplanes Storm," and advised Muslims, children and opponents of the United States "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises".
Republican lawmakers have voiced their reservations over a US civilian trial for Abu Ghaith, that too in New York. Senators lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte and House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers, all Republicans, said all captured Al Qaeda members should be sent for military detention and trial in Guantanamo Bay, where 166 detainees are held.