Bin Laden Spokesman Caught

Bin Laden Spokesman Caught, Osama bin Laden's spokesman and son-in-law has been captured by the United States in what a senior congressman has called a "very significant victory" in the fight against al-Qaeda.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith's extradition to the United States is imminent, and he is expected to be prosecuted in federal court in New York, according to a law enforcement official.

Congressman Peter King, the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, credited the CIA and FBI with catching al-Qaeda propagandist Sulaiman Abu Ghaith in Jordan during the past week. He said the capture was confirmed to him by US law enforcement officials.

A Jordanian security official confirmed that Abu Ghaith was handed over last week to US law enforcement officials under both nations' extradition treaty.

"Definitely, one by one, we are getting the top echelons of al-Qaeda," said King, a Republican. "I give the (Obama) administration credit for this: it's steady and it's unrelenting and it's very successful."

Abu Ghaith became an international name in late 2001 when he appeared on pan-Arab satellite television urging Muslims everywhere to fight the United States and warning of more attacks similar to those of September 11.

In one video, he was sitting with bin Laden in front of a rock face in Afghanistan. A teacher and mosque preacher in Kuwait, he was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship after September 11, 2001.

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that Abu Ghaith was passing through Jordan, on his way to Kuwait, shortly after leaving Turkey.

The newspaper said Abu Ghaith was taken into custody more than a month ago at a luxury hotel in Ankara, the Turkish capital.
But Turkish officials decided he had not committed any crime in Turkey, and released him, the newspaper reported.