US News

I am not the terrorist you’re looking for: Osama’s son-in-law

The feds got the wrong terrorist?

That’s the bizarre 11th hour claim being made by a lawyer for Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, who heads to trial Monday for allegedly participating in al-Qaida’s conspiracy to kill Americans.

“During the course of the defense investigation, it came to our attention that there might be a second person with the name Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, or a very similar name ,” said lawyer Zoe Dolan in a letter Wednesday to Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan seeking to dismiss her client’s indictment  based on new “findings.”

She said the real culprit could be an al Qaeda “insider” referred to in various government documents as “Sulayman Abu Ghayth,” who is “close” to bin Laden and is currently being detained in Guantanamo Bay.

“In sum, the other individual is in the custody of the United States government, shares a name very similar to the defendant’s, and has been accused of conduct that is similar, if not identical, to the allegations in this case.”
The feds declined comment.

Lawyers for the Abu Ghayth on trial plan to rely on written testimony by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. They said his testimony is crucial, considering Mohammed is widely credited with commissioning “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s botched airline attack  — and the government alleges Abu Ghayth played a key role in that plot.