Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
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Sulaiman Jassem Sulaiman Ali Abu Ghaith (; born 14 December 1965) is a
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
i regarded as one of
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
's spokesmen. He is
married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
to one of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
's daughters. In 2013, Gaith was arrested in Jordan and extradited to the United States. In 2014, he was convicted in a U.S. federal court in New York for "conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists" and sentenced to life imprisonment He is serving his sentence at the federal ADX Florence prison in Colorado.


Activities during the 1991 Gulf War

Abu Ghaith, who grew up with the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
, first gained attention during the 1990–1991 Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait. His sermons denouncing the occupation and Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
gained him some degree of popularity amongst the Kuwaiti people. In 1992, he went to
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
for nearly a month to do some "relief services" there. He later joined Muslim guerillas in the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
in summer 1994. The Kuwaiti government subsequently removed him from the mosque and banned him from giving sermons, as he used to criticize the Kuwaiti government and other Arab governments stridently, then he became a high school teacher of religion.


Arrival in Afghanistan in June 2000

In June 2000, he left Kuwait for
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, where he met
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and joined his
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
organization. His affinity for public speaking and comparative youth put him at the head of al-Qaeda's attempt to widen its appeal from ultra-conservative and mostly elderly clerics to the general population and especially the youth of majority-Muslim countries; in this capacity, he quickly became the organization's spokesman.


Al Wafa

According to documents in the unclassified dossier from Adel al Zamel's
Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was also a founder of
Al Wafa al Igatha al Islamia Al Wafa is an Islamic charity listed in Executive Order 13224 as an entity that supports terrorism. United States intelligence officials state that it was founded in Afghanistan by Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil, Abdul Aziz al-Matrafi and ...
, a charity the USA asserts provided a plausible front for al Qaeda's fund-raising efforts.documents (.pdf)
from
Adil Zamil Abdull Mohssin Al Zamil Adel al Zamel (عادل عبد المحسن الزميل) is a citizen of Kuwait who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts repor ...
's ''
Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...
'', 18 August 2004
One of the allegations against Al Zamil, who was also accused of being a founder of al Wafa, was that he helped Abu Ghaith's family leave Afghanistan around the time of the attacks of 9–11.


Al Qaeda video after 9/11

He rose to worldwide attention following the 11 September 2001, attacks. On 10 October 2001, he appeared on two widely circulated videos (first broadcast on
al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
television) to defend the attacks and threaten reprisals for the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan, saying, "Americans should know, the storm of the planes will not stop... Thousands of the Islamic nation's youths are eager to die just as the Americans are eager to live." These statements caused the Kuwaiti government to strip him of his citizenship. In 2002, while living in Iran, he posted a statement that al Qaeda has "the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure, and injure and cripple hundreds and thousands."


Alleged connection to the Faylaka Island attackers

According to ''
The Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news websites, news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization establis ...
'' American officials assert that Sulaiman Abu Ghaith attended al Qaeda's airport training camp with Anas al Kandari and
Faiz al Kandari Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari (born 3 June 1977) is a Kuwaiti citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba, from 2002 to 2016. He has never been charged with war crimes. The US ...
. Anas al Kandari was a young Kuwaiti who fired upon a squad of marines, killing one, in the
Faylaka Island attack The Failaka Island attack took place on October 8, 2002, when two Kuwaiti citizens with ties to al-Qaeda jihadists in Afghanistan attacked a group of unarmed United States Marines conducting a training exercise on a Kuwaiti island, killing on ...
in 2002. Faiz al Kandari is another Kuwaiti, who was held in
extrajudicial detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
in Guantanamo from 2002 to 2008. In 2008, charges were prepared against him to be referred to a
Guantanamo military commission The Guantanamo military commissions were established by President George W. Bush through a military order on November 13, 2001, to try certain non-citizen terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. To date, there have been a total of eight ...
. According to ''The Long War Journal'' in his book '' The Martyr's Oath'', Stewart Bell asserted Sulaiman Abu Ghaith recruited Anas al Kandari and the other shooter to launch the Faylaka Island attacks.


Presence in Iran 2002–2013

As he moved around to escape capture by the United States in the following months, his whereabouts are unclear. According to ''the Long War Journal'', by 2002, Sulaiman was living in Iran. In July 2003, a Kuwaiti minister announced that the
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian government was holding Abu Ghaith and that Kuwait had refused an offer from Iran to extradite him to Kuwait. In September 2010, the ''Long War Journal'' falsely reported that Abu Ghaith had been freed by Iran and had left the country for Afghanistan. In March 2013, it was reported that Abu Ghaith had spent most of the last ten years in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, under house arrest.


Presence in Turkey 2013

In late January 2013, Abu Ghaith entered
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
from
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, staying in a hotel in
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
. For a brief period, he was detained at the request of the United States but was released since he had committed no crime in Turkey. Turkish authorities held him as "a guest" since he did not have a passport at the time. Rather than extradite him to the United States, the Turkish authorities decided to deport him to his home country, Kuwait.


Arrest, extradition to the United States, and trial

On a stopover in
Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
, Jordan, Abu Ghaith was arrested by Jordanian officials and turned over to US authorities on 7 March 2013. He was subsequently extradited to the United States and housed in a federal prison in New York. Abu Ghaith was indicted on charges of conspiring to kill Americans and tried in the Federal District Court in Manhattan (''U.S. v. Abu Ghayth'', U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 98-cr-01023). He pleaded not guilty on 8 March 2013. On 8 April 2013, Abu Ghaith's attorneys were considering a request for
change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial (law), trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to wides ...
, since New York City received the greatest loss from the attacks on 11 September 2001. Abu Ghaith's lawyers sought the right to call upon
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaykh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born 14 April 1965), often known by his initials KSM, is a terrorist, and the former head of propaganda for the pan-Islamist militant group al-Qaeda. He ...
as a witness. On 18 March 2014, this request was denied by a New York federal judge. On 26 March 2014, Abu Ghaith was convicted of "conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to terrorists" and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. On 28 September 2017, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld his conviction.


Personal life

He married his first wife, Fatima, in Kuwait, with whom he had six daughters and a son. He then married an Egyptian woman named Amal, who was detained with him in Iran, with whom he had two daughters; then he married Osama bin Laden's daughter, Fatima, with whom he had a daughter and a son.


References


Sources

*


External links

*, translated June 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Ghaith, Sulaiman 1965 births Living people Kuwaiti al-Qaeda members Al-Qaeda leaders People extradited from Jordan People extradited to the United States Inmates of ADX Florence Kuwaiti people imprisoned in the United States Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government