Bin Laden son-in-law pleads not guilty to plot

NEW YORK: Osama bin Laden's son-in-law pleaded not guilty Friday to plotting against Americans in his role as al-Qaida's top spokesman as a landmark case trying a terror suspect on U.S. soil moves toward trial next month.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith entered the plea through a lawyer to one count of conspiracy to kill Americans after being arrested in Jordan on Feb. 28.

Abu Ghaith gave an ``extensive post-arrest statement'' that totaled 22 pages and arrived in the U.S. on March 1, Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Cronan said.

The prosecutor gave no details on the statement. Abu Ghaith nodded yes when asked, through an interpreter, if he understood his rights.

He shook his head no when asked whether he had money to hire an attorney. Bail was not requested, and none was set.

The judge said he would set a trial date April 8. Prosecutors said a trial would last about three weeks.

The case marks a legal victory for the Obama administration, which has long sought to charge senior al-Qaida suspects in U.S. federal courts instead of holding them at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said Abu Ghaith initially agreed to be interviewed without an attorney at the FBI office in Manhattan immediately after his arrival.

Later in the day, he requested an attorney and was interviewed with an attorney present. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the case.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the capture of Abu Ghaith on Thursday, saying ``no amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice.''

The Justice Department said Abu Ghaith was the spokesman for al-Qaida, working alongside bin Laden and current leader Ayman al-Zawahri, since at least May 2001.

Abu Ghaith is a former mosque preacher and teacher and urged followers to swear allegiance to bin Laden, prosecutors said.

The day after the Sept. 11 attacks, prosecutors say he appeared with bin Laden and al-Zawahri and called on the ``nation of Islam'' to battle against Jews, Christians and Americans.

A ``great army is gathering against you,'' Abu Ghaith said on Sept. 12, 2001, according to prosecutors.

Kuwait stripped him of his citizenship after the 2001 attacks. In 2002, under pressure as the U.S. military and CIA searched for bin Laden, prosecutors said Abu Ghaith was smuggled into Iran from Afghanistan.

Tom Lynch, a research fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, described Abu Ghaith as one of a small handful of senior al-Qaida leaders ``capable of getting the old band back together and postured for a round of real serious international terror.''