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9/11 mastermind: Bin Laden son-in-law didn't know about attack

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind seen here shortly after his capture in 2001, told a U.S. military court today, June 5, 2008 in Guantanamo Bay, that he wishes for the death penalty so that he can become a martyr. (UPI Photo/Handout)
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind seen here shortly after his capture in 2001, told a U.S. military court today, June 5, 2008 in Guantanamo Bay, that he wishes for the death penalty so that he can become a martyr. (UPI Photo/Handout) | License Photo

NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- The son-in-law of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was unaware of plans for the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks on New York and Washington, a court was told Monday.

Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed told a federal court in New York in a 14-page declaration Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was "an eloquent, spellbinding speaker" but had never received any military training and was unaware of details behind the threats he was uttering, the Washington Post reported.

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"I personally never spoke with Sheik Sulaiman Abu Ghaith about the shoe bomb operation," Mohammed said. "Ghaith was not a military man and had nothing to do with military operations." He added he never saw Abu Ghaith with convicted shoe-bomber Richard Reid.

Abu Ghaith, 48, is charged with conspiring to kill Americans and with providing support to terrorists as an al-Qaida spokesman.

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