Osama bin Laden's son-in-law testifies at his terrorism trial

NEW YORK, March 19 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden's son-in-law testified at his trial in New York Wednesday that he was not involved in terrorist attacks.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith said did not know about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, until after the fact -- and then warned his father-in-law of the consequences, the New York Times reported. He said that when bin Laden pressed him for an opinion he said the United States would come after him and kill him and would overturn the Taliban government in Afghanistan, where bin Laden then had his base.

"He said, 'You are being too pessimistic.' I said, 'You asked my opinion, and this is my opinion,' " Abu Ghaith said.

In response to a question from his lawyer, Stanley Cohen, Abu Ghaith denied planning or helping with attacks on the United States or its citizens.

Immediately after the attacks, Abu Ghaith was the public face of al-Qaida, delivering videotaped statements that justified the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But he said he was simply transmitting bin Laden's views.

Abu Ghaith's decision to take the witness stand was unexpected, the Times said. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Cohen's request Tuesday to allow testimony from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted planner of the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.