Osama bin Laden's Son-in-Law Captured, Brought to US
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, a suspected member of al Qaeda, has been captured, according to Rep. Pete King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
Turkish media reported earlier today that the man, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was taken into custody in the Turkish capital of Ankara last month in a joint operation between the CIA and Turkish intelligence. He was recently deported to Jordan and from there was taken to the U.S., according to Turkish reports and the Wall Street Journal. King confirmed Ghaith's capture but did not discuss the details of the operation or Ghaith's extradition.
Simply put, he will be the most senior Al Qaeda leader put on trial in the United States (including the Gitmo tribunals) to date.
Abu Ghaith was a top official on Al Qaeda Central's 'Shura' Council...a group of clerics and leaders who'd advise OBL & Zawahiri on major operations. He absolutely had foreknowledge of 9/11 and many other Al Qaeda terrorist attacks.
This is him on October 10, 2001...a month after 9/11 and three days after the start of the Afghan War...praising the attacks and promising more to come...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
For most of the last decade he's been under house arrest in Iran, but for reasons unknown the Iranians recently released him.
Possibly disillusioned, he opted not to return to the AfPak area but seemed desperate to return to his home in Kuwait (where he was a wanted man, stripped of citizenship.)
After brief detention in Turkey...Jordanian and US agents arrested him, and he's been brought to New York City to stand trial, possibly including for the 9/11 attacks. The FBI has taken the lead in interrogating him.
Fun fact about Sulaiman Abu Ghaith: He first rose to prominence in Islamist circles for having been a vocal insurgent leader against Iraqi forces during the Occupation of Kuwait in '90-'91.
If you dig deep into the backgrounds of other top Al Qaeda leaders, you find similar stories of violent hatred of Saddam Hussein. A massive reason I never bought into the supposed 'Saddam - Al Qaeda' relationship Bush tried to dump on us.
Hey, asshole....Welcome to New York.