New York --

In surprise testimony in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law recounted the night of the Sept. 11 attacks, when the al Qaeda leader sent a messenger to drive him into a mountainous area for a meeting inside a cave in Afghanistan.


When bin Laden asked what he thought would happen next, Abu Ghaith testified that he predicted America "will not settle until it kills you and topples the state of the Taliban."

Bin Laden responded: "You're being too pessimistic," Abu Ghaith said.


The testimony came at Abu Ghaith's trial on charges he conspired to kill Americans and aid al Qaeda as a spokesman for the terrorist group.

The rare gambit by the defense was a last-ditch effort to counter a mountain of evidence against Abu Ghaith, including an alleged confession and videos showing him sitting beside Bin Laden on Sept. 12, 2001, and another in which he warned Americans that "the storm of airplanes will not abate." The defense contends Abu Ghaith was recruited as a religious teacher and orator, and had no role in plotting more attacks.