03-20-2014, 08:52 AM
GHAITH'S TESTIMONY
The decision by Abu Ghaith, a 48-year-old Kuwaiti-born cleric, to testify came two weeks into his trial in Federal District Court. Late on Wednesday, the defense rested its case. The jury is expected to begin deliberations early next week.
Here are some highlights of what Ghaith told the jurors yesterday.
It was some hours after the World Trade Center towers had been toppled when Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was summoned to a meeting with Osama bin Laden. He recalled a three-hour-or-so drive into the night, finding the leader of al Qaeda in a cave amid the mountains in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden wanted his opinion on what would happen next. He said he told Bin Laden that he was not a military analyst, but Bin Laden pressed him. Ghaith said that told Bin Laden that “America, if it was proven that you were the one who did this, will not settle until it accomplishes two things: to kill you and topple the state of Taliban".
“He (Bin Laden) said, ‘You are being too pessimistic.’ “I (Ghaith) said, ‘You asked my opinion, and this is my opinion.’ ”
After the drive from Kandahar, Ghaith said, he found Bin Laden “in a cave, inside a mountain, in a rough terrain.” “He said, ‘Come in, sit down.’ He said, ‘Did you learn about what happened?’ ”
Bin Laden told him that “we are the ones who did it,” the defendant recalled in response to questions posed by his lawyer, Stanley L. Cohen.
Ghaith had been in Afghanistan for several months in 2001, where he was delivering religious lectures in Qaeda training camps, he said. On the morning of Sept. 12, he testified, Bin Laden told him he wanted “to deliver a message to the world.”
Ghaith recalled saying that he was “new in this field.” He said Bin Laden replied, “I am going to give you some points and you build around them that speech.”
Ghaith said under direct examination that Bin Laden wanted him to lecture in the Qaeda camps because the trainees had a “hard life.” “I need you to change that,” Bin Laden told him, Ghaith recalled. He said Bin Laden wanted him to make them be merciful.
On cross-examination, prosecutor, Michael Ferrara, later asked Ghaith, “You’re telling this jury that Bin Laden asked you to speak at those training camps where men were armed and learning how to use guns because he wanted you to talk about mercy?” “Yes,” Ghaith replied.
Ghaith had also testified on direct examination that he had no idea “specifically” that the Sept. 11 attacks would occur, saying he only learned of them from news reports. But on cross-examination, he admitted that in the training camps, he had heard that “something” might happen.
“You knew something big was coming from Al Qaeda?” Mr. Ferrara asked. “Yes,” Ghaith replied.
During the questioning by Mr. Cohen, Ghaith said that he had hoped that his speeches and videos would have led the United States to say, “Let’s go and sit down and talk and solve this problem.” (HOTD: for real?)
Mr. Ferrara, though, pressed the defendant about the message he delivered in his speeches.“It was your intention to deliver a message you believed in, right?” the prosecutor asked. Ghaith said "yes".
“Your words carried weight, didn’t they?” Mr. Ferrara added a few questions later. “The listener will have to be the judge of that,” Ghaith said. “I cannot judge my own words.”
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Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/nyregi...egion&_r=0
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bin-laden-so...n-defense/
The decision by Abu Ghaith, a 48-year-old Kuwaiti-born cleric, to testify came two weeks into his trial in Federal District Court. Late on Wednesday, the defense rested its case. The jury is expected to begin deliberations early next week.
Here are some highlights of what Ghaith told the jurors yesterday.
It was some hours after the World Trade Center towers had been toppled when Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was summoned to a meeting with Osama bin Laden. He recalled a three-hour-or-so drive into the night, finding the leader of al Qaeda in a cave amid the mountains in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden wanted his opinion on what would happen next. He said he told Bin Laden that he was not a military analyst, but Bin Laden pressed him. Ghaith said that told Bin Laden that “America, if it was proven that you were the one who did this, will not settle until it accomplishes two things: to kill you and topple the state of Taliban".
“He (Bin Laden) said, ‘You are being too pessimistic.’ “I (Ghaith) said, ‘You asked my opinion, and this is my opinion.’ ”
After the drive from Kandahar, Ghaith said, he found Bin Laden “in a cave, inside a mountain, in a rough terrain.” “He said, ‘Come in, sit down.’ He said, ‘Did you learn about what happened?’ ”
Bin Laden told him that “we are the ones who did it,” the defendant recalled in response to questions posed by his lawyer, Stanley L. Cohen.
Ghaith had been in Afghanistan for several months in 2001, where he was delivering religious lectures in Qaeda training camps, he said. On the morning of Sept. 12, he testified, Bin Laden told him he wanted “to deliver a message to the world.”
Ghaith recalled saying that he was “new in this field.” He said Bin Laden replied, “I am going to give you some points and you build around them that speech.”
Ghaith said under direct examination that Bin Laden wanted him to lecture in the Qaeda camps because the trainees had a “hard life.” “I need you to change that,” Bin Laden told him, Ghaith recalled. He said Bin Laden wanted him to make them be merciful.
On cross-examination, prosecutor, Michael Ferrara, later asked Ghaith, “You’re telling this jury that Bin Laden asked you to speak at those training camps where men were armed and learning how to use guns because he wanted you to talk about mercy?” “Yes,” Ghaith replied.
Ghaith had also testified on direct examination that he had no idea “specifically” that the Sept. 11 attacks would occur, saying he only learned of them from news reports. But on cross-examination, he admitted that in the training camps, he had heard that “something” might happen.
“You knew something big was coming from Al Qaeda?” Mr. Ferrara asked. “Yes,” Ghaith replied.
During the questioning by Mr. Cohen, Ghaith said that he had hoped that his speeches and videos would have led the United States to say, “Let’s go and sit down and talk and solve this problem.” (HOTD: for real?)
Mr. Ferrara, though, pressed the defendant about the message he delivered in his speeches.“It was your intention to deliver a message you believed in, right?” the prosecutor asked. Ghaith said "yes".
“Your words carried weight, didn’t they?” Mr. Ferrara added a few questions later. “The listener will have to be the judge of that,” Ghaith said. “I cannot judge my own words.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/nyregi...egion&_r=0
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bin-laden-so...n-defense/