indictment of osama bin laden's son-in-law sulaiman abu ghayth

7/29/2019 Indictment of Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghayth

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA- v . -

SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH,a / k / a "Suleiman Abu Gayth,"Defendant .

X

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - XCOUNT ONE

USDC SDNYDOCUMENTELECTRONICALLY FfLEDDOC# ' .

... .: ,all .: - . 'D A T E F l L E ~ t ~ ~ _ .. .0 1 2 Q ~ t ;

--- --M - ~ - - - . IINDICTMENTS13 98 Cr. 10Q3 (LAK).

C E R T I F I E D A ~ . A ~ U E l C O P Y . O THIS DAT ~ ~ d i \ ,) - .BY- - - . ~ 7 m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONSPIRACY TO .KILL UNITED STATES NATIONALSThe Grand Jury charges:

Background To The Conspiracy1. From in o r about 1989, up to and inc luding the. : . .

date of the f i l i n g o f t h i s Ind ic tment , a l Qaeda has been ani n t e r n a t i o n ~ l t e r r o r i s t group t ha t i s ded ica ted to oppos.ing non-Is lamic governments with fo rce and violence . Usama Bin Laden("Bin Laden") was the leader o r "emir" of a l Qaeda u n t i l h isdeath on o r about May 2, 2011. Members of a l Qaeda t yp ica l lyhave pledged an oa th of a l leg iance (ca l led a "bayat") to BinLaden and a l Qaeda.

2. The core purpose o f a l Qaeda, as s t a t ed by BinLaden and o ther l eader s , i s to support v io len t_a t tacks aga ins tproper ty and na t iona l s , both m i l i t a ry and c i v i l i a n , of the UnitedSta tes and o ther coun t r ies . Between 1989 and 2001, a l Qaedaes tab l i shed t r a in ing camps, gues t houses, and business opera t ions


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in Afghanis tan , Pakis tan , and othe r coun t r i e s fo r the purpose oft r a i n i n g and support ing i t s agenda of vio lence and murder.Members and assoc ia tes of a l Qaeda, both known and unknown, haveexecu ted a number of t e r r o r i s t a t tacks , a l l in fu r therance o f theo r g an i za t i o n ' s s t a t e d consp i racy to k i l l Americans, inc lud ing th ea t t a ck s .o n th e United Sta tes on September 11, 2001 in New York,Virg in ia , and Pennsylvania , w ~ i c h k i l l e d approximate ly 2,976people .

3. From a t l e a s t in o r about May 2001, up to andinc lud ing in o r about 2002, SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a /k /a "SuleimanAbu Gayth," the defendant , served a l Qaeda. Among othe r th ings ,ABU GHAYTH urged 9thers to swear a l legiance to Bin Laden, spokeon beha l f of and i n suppor t of a l Qaeda 's mission, and warnedt ha t a t tacks s imi la r to those of September 11, 2001 wouldcon t inue . During 2002, ABU GHAYTH, arranged to be, and was,smuggled success fu l ly from Afghanis tan in to I ran .

Statutory Allegat ions4. From a t l e a s t in o r about May 2001, up to and

inc lud ing in o r about 2002, in an offense begun andcommit tedout s ide of the j u r i s d i c t i on of any pa r t i c u l a r S ta t e o r d i s t r i c tof th e United S ta t e s , SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a / k / a "Suleiman AbuGayth," th e defendant , who has been f i r s t b ro u g h t to and a r r e s t e din th e Southern D i s t r i c t of New York, and othe rs known andunknown, unlawfu l ly , w i l l fu l l y , and knowingly combined,

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conspired, confedera ted , and agreed to k i l l na t iona l s of theUnited S t a t e s .

5. I t was a pa r t and ob jec t of the conspiracy t ha tSULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a /k /a "Suleiman Abu Gayth," the defendant ,and othe rs known and unknown, would and did murder United Sta tesna t iona l s anywhere in the world.

Overt Acts

6. In fur therance of the conspi racy and to e f f e c t thei l l e g a l ob jec t the reof , SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a /k /a "Suleiman AbuGayth," th e defendant , committed the fol lowing ove r t ac t s , amongothe rs :

a . In o r about May 2001, ABU GHAYTH urgedi nd iv idua l s a t a gues t house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swearan oa th of a l leg iance to Usama Bin Laden.

b. Pr io r to September 11, 2001, in Afghanistan,ABU GHAYTH to ld Bin Laden t ha t he (ABU GHAYTH) wou19 a s s i s t BinLaden.

c . On the evening of September 11, 2001, inAfghanis tan , Bin Laden summoned ABU GHAYTH and reques ted ABUGHAYTH's ass i s t ance .

d. On the morning of September 12, 2001, ABUGHAYTH, appear ing with, among othe rs , Bin Laden and Bin Laden 'sthen-deputy , Ayman a l -Zawahi r i , spoke on beha l f of a l Qaeda andwarned the United Sta tes and i t s a l l i e s t ha t "[a) grea t army i s

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ga ther ing aga ins t you 11 and ca l led upon "the na t ion o f Islam" todo b a t t l e aga ins t "the Jews, the Chr i s t i ans and th e Americans. 11

e . Afte r the September 11, 2001 t e r ro r i s ta t t a ck s , ABU GHAYTH gave a speech in which he addressed the U.S.Sec re t a ry of Sta te and warned t h a t "the storms s ha l l not s top ,espec ia l ly the Airplanes Storm, 11 and advised Muslims, chi ldren ,and opponents of the United Sta tes "not to board any a i r c r a f t andnot to l i ve in high r i s e s . 11

(Ti t le 18, United Sta tes Code, Sect ions 2332(b) and 3238.)FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

7. The a l lega t ions contained in Count One of t h i sIndic tment are hereby r e -a l l eged and incorpora ted by re fe rencefo r th e purpose o f t h i s fo r fe i tu re a l l ega t ion , pursuant to T i t l e18, United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 981(a) (1) (G), and Ti t l e 28,United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 2461(c) .

8. The v io la t ion of Ti t l e 18, United Sta tes Code,Sect ion 2332(b) a l leged in Count One of t h i s Indictment was af edera l cr ime of t e r ro r i sm, as def ined in Ti t l e 18, United Sta tesCode, Sect ion 2332b(g) (5), aga ins t the United Sta tes , c i t i zens .and r es iden ts of the United Sta tes , and t h e i r proper ty .

9. SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a /k / a "Suleiman Abu Gayth, 11

the defendant , was an indiv idua l engaged in planning andperpe t ra t ing a fede ra l cr ime of te r ror ism aga ins t th e United

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S ta t e s , c i t i ' zens and r es iden ts of the United S ta t e s , and t h e i rproper ty .

10. Upon conv ic t ion of the offense i n v io l a t i o n o fTi t l e 18, United Sta t e s Code, Sect ion 2332(b) a l leged i n CountOne o f t h i s Ind ic tment , SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH, a /k / a "Suleiman AbuGayth," the defendant , s h a l l f o r f e i t to th e United Sta tes ,pursuan t to Ti t l e 18; United Sta t e s Code, Sect ion981(a) (1 ) (G) ( i ) , and Ti t l e 28, United Sta t e s Code, Sect ion2461{c) , a l l r i g h t , title 1 and i n t e r e s t in a l l as s e t s 1 fo re ignand domest ic 1 der ived from 1 involved in 1 and used and in tended tobe used to commit a fede ra l crime o f t e r ro r i sm aga ins t th e UnitedSta tes 1 c i t i z e n s and r es iden ts o f the United Sta tes , and t h e i rproper ty .

11. Upon conv ic t ion o f the o f fense in v i o l a t i o n o fTi t l e 18 1 United Sta t e s Code 1 Sect ion 2332(b) a l leged i n CountOne o f t h i s Ind ic tment , SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH 1 a /k /a "Suleiman AbuGayth," th e defendant 1 s h a l l pay to th e United Sta t e s 1 pursuan tto T i t l e 18 1 United Sta t e s Code 1 Sect ion 981(a) (1 ) (G) 1 and Ti t l e28 1 United S ta t e s Code, Sec t io n 2461(c) , a money judgment equa l

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to the. value of the asse t s sub jec t t o fo r fe i tu re under paragraphs7 through 10 above.

(T i t l e 18, Uni ted Sta t e s Code, Sect ion 981(a) (1 ) (G),and T i t l e 28, United S ta t e s Code, Sect ion 2461(c) . )

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PREET BHARARA @)United Sta tes Attorney


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fC-1 l?y

, .

Form No. USA-33s-274 (Ed. 9-25-58)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF.NEW YORK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA- v. -

SULAIMAN ABU GHAYTH,a/k/a "Suleiman Abu Gayth,"

Defendant.

INDICTMENT813 98 Cr. 1023 (LAK)

(18 u.s.c. 2332(b) & 3238)

PREET BHARARAUnited Sta tes AttorneyA TRUE BILL

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indictment of osama bin laden's son-in-law sulaiman abu ghayth

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