In this courtroom sketch, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, right, testifies at his trial Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in New York, on charges he conspired to kill Americans and aid al-Qaida as a spokesman for the terrorist group. Listening to testimony are Judge Lewis Kaplan, center, and defense attorney Stanley Cohen, at podium. In his surprise testimony, Abu Ghaith recounted the night of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the al-Qaida leader sent a messenger to drive him into a mountainous area for a meeting inside a cave in Afghanistan. "Did you learn what happened? We are the ones who did it," Abu Ghaith, recalled bin Laden telling him. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) (The Associated Press)
NEW YORK – Osama bin Laden's hours in a dark Afghanistan cave the evening of the Sept. 11 attacks have been brought to light after his son-in-law testified in his defense at his New York terrorism trial.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (SOO'-lay-mahn AH'-boo GAYTH') portrayed the al-Qaida leader Wednesday as worried as he contemplated America's response.
Abu Ghaith says the al-Qaida leader told him he was behind the attacks and asked him to deliver his message to the world. He says bin Laden asked him what he thought would happen next and he told him America would not stop until it killed him and toppled the Taliban. He says bin Laden told him he was too pessimistic.
The Kuwaiti-born 48-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges he conspired to kill Americans and aided al-Qaida.
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