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Osama bin Laden's son-in-law goes on trial in New York

 
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith faces charges 
that he conspired to kill Americans.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith faces charges that he conspired to kill Americans.
Published March 4, 2014

NEW YORK — Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was introduced to prospective jurors on Monday at the start of his trial on charges that he conspired to kill Americans and support terrorists in his role as al-Qaida's spokesman after the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, 48, to turn and face the potential jurors before asking if any of them knew him. None did.

The questioning was part of a process to shrink a pool of dozens of prospective jurors to the 12 anonymous jurors and several alternates necessary before opening statements this week.

Abu Ghaith is the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The trial began a year after he was brought to the United States following his capture in Jordan.

The judge told prospective jurors they would need to decide whether Abu Ghaith had conspired to kill Americans, conspired to provide material support and resources to terrorists and then supplied material support and resources to terrorists.