A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who served as an al-Qaida spokesman and warned Americans after Sept. 11 that “the storm shall not stop” pleaded not guilty Friday in a civilian court to plotting to kill Americans.

Handcuffed and in a blue prison suit, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith wore earphones to listen to a live translation of the hearing in a heavily guarded federal courtroom in Lower Manhattan, walking distance from the World Trade Center site.

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He entered the plea through a court-appointed lawyer and was ordered to return to court April 8. Abu Ghaith himself spoke only twice, answering “Yes” when he was asked whether he understood the charge and whether he wanted representation.

Prosecutors disclosed that Abu Ghaith was captured Feb. 28 overseas and flown to New York the following day. They said he had yielded enough information after his capture to fill 22 pages. They did not give details of what he said.

An indictment unsealed Thursday accuses Abu Ghaith of taking part in al-Qaida plots to kill Americans, both before and after the 2001 terror attacks. It describes him as such a close confidant that bin Laden summoned him for help on the evening of Sept. 11, 2001.

Abu Ghaith gave a speech after Sept. 11 and warned Americans that “the storm shall not stop, especially the airplanes storm” and suggested that Muslims and opponents of the United States should not fly or live in high rises.

Jordanian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NBC News that Abu Ghaith was captured by Turkish officials in Ankara, where a court ruled that he had entered the country with a fake passport.

The Turkish government ordered him deported to Kuwait, where he was born, but arranged for him to travel through Jordan, where he was taken into custody by American law enforcement, the sources said.

NBC News exclusive: Iran was holding Abu Ghaith, U.S. officials say

Rep. Peter King of New York, a Republican who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, announced the capture Thursday and credited the FBI and CIA.

Some Republican members of Congress expressed surprise that they had not been consulted, and said that Abu Ghaith should have been prosecuted as an enemy combatant and held by the military at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

They issued statements Friday denouncing the decision and saying that the Obama administration was weakening the nation by not having al-Qaida figures like Abu Ghaith detained and interrogated at military facilities.

“The administration risks missing important opportunities to gather intelligence to prevent future attacks and save lives,” Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said in a statement.

In November 2009, the administration announced plans to try five people accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks in civilian court in New York. The White House backed off that plan a year and a half later after a political backlash.

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said civilian courts have “a pretty good, strong track record” in handling terrorism prosecutions. He cited the men convicted of trying to blow up an airliner in December 2009 and detonate a car bomb in Times Square in May 2010, both of whom got life sentences in civilian courts.

“It is the consensus view of the president’s national security team and of agencies all across the federal government that this is the best way to handle bringing Abu Ghaith to justice,” Earnest said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the Intelligence Committee, said she expected that Abu Ghaith would be put away for life.

“The bottom line is the federal criminal court system works,” she said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 8, 2013 8:11 AM EST

Even as government officials applauded the arrest of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and an al-Qaida spokesman, his transport to the United States stirred a debate among lawmakers who appeared caught by surprise by the news.

Abu Ghaith was apprehended, transported to New York and charged with conspiracy to kill Americans, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. Abu Ghaith appeared alongside his father-in-law in a 2001 video in which they took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and warned of more.

---

He is due to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. Abu Ghaith is expected to enter a plea to one count of conspiracy to kill Americans.

Abu Ghaith's trial will be one of the first prosecutions of senior al-Qaida leaders in the United States. Upon taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama said more foreign terror suspects should be charged in American federal courts, as part of his goal to close Guantanamo Bay.

Since September 11, 2001, 67 foreign terror suspects have been convicted in U.S. federal courts, according to Human Rights First, a watchdog group that obtained the data from the Justice Department through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay after the terror attacks, only seven have been convicted by military tribunals held at the base in Cuba, Human Rights First said. Most of them have been sent back overseas, either for rehabilitation or continued detention and prosecution, the AP reported. 

Republicans in Congress would like to keep Guantanamo open and have strongly opposed bringing terror suspects on U.S. soil.

"We believe the administration's decision here to bring this person to New York City, if that's what's happened, without letting Congress know is a very bad precedent to set," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who held a press conference with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H, Thursday.

"And when we find somebody like this, this close to bin Laden and the senior al-Qaida leadership, the last thing in the world we want to do, in my opinion, is put them in civilian court. This man should be in Guantanamo Bay," Ayotte said.

"So we're putting the administration on notice," said Graham. "We think that sneaking this guy into the country, clearly going around the intent of Congress when it comes to enemy combatants, will be challenged."  

Earlier, in an interview on MSNBC, House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., strongly criticized the administration for bringing Abu Ghaith to the United States.

Rogers, a former FBI agent, said that reading "Miranda rights" to a top al-Qaida suspect and bringing him to the United States for trial creates a host of problems — as opposed to sending him to the facility at Guantanamo Bay, which was built to handle high value prisoners.

"Al-Qaida leaders captured on the battlefield should not be brought to the United States to stand trial," Rogers said. "We should treat enemy combatants like the enemy. The U.S. court system is not the appropriate venue."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was fine with him if Abu Ghaith is put on trial in New York, because key state and city officials had been consulted in advance, unlike in the case of terror suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

"Unlike with KSM, (Police Commissioner Ray) Kelly and others had been consulted ahead of time about this and they gave the green light to do it. As you know,  Kelly, Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg and I opposed the trial of (Mohammed) in New York and we successfully made sure that didn't happen," said Schumer.

"On issues like this, I defer to Commissioner Kelly, and I think the mayor does as well. And he thinks it's OK to do it here, and I'll go by that," he added.

NBC News' Becky Bratu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Bin Laden son-in-law arrested, whisked to NYC on terror charges

Exclusive: Iran was holding bin Laden son-in-law, US officials say

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 7, 2013 7:19 PM EST

U.S. officials say Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, captured last month in Turkey and now in New York, has spent most of the last decade in Iran, in some sort of confinement.

Back in late 2001, as U.S. troops and Afghan tribal forces were dismantling the Taliban control of Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden made a decision.

---

He sent his operators, people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Abu Zubaydah to the cities of Pakistan where they were to hide out and plan further attacks against the US.  All of the key players were captured or killed, with the exception of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's No. 2 who remains at large, having survived at least three Predator attacks.

At the same time, bin Laden sent his top managers, al-Qaida's Management Council, to Iran, arming them with money to bribe their way across the border, according to multiple US and Iranian officials. Bin Laden apparently hoped that the Iranians would see the group not as Sunni terrorists but as "an enemy of my enemy," as one senior U.S. official put it.

Among those who made their way into Iran were Saif al-Adel, al-Qaida’s military director; bin Laden's son Saad; and Abu Ghaith, the group's communications director ... and also bin Laden's son-in-law.

At one point not long after its arrival, this group, numbering in the hundreds with family members and bodyguards, was captured by Iranian authorities. Although senior U.S. officials have told NBC News they did not know the conditions of their confinement — "it was the blackest of black boxes," one former senior U.S. official told NBC News — Iranian officials said the group was "in jail."

One Iranian official, former U.N. ambassador Javad Zarif, told NBC News in the mid-2000s that "no nation has captured as many al-Qaida members as Iran." US officials admit that other than some mundane communications, they were unaware of any significant roles played by the group while in captivity.

"Every once in a while, we would intercept non-operational communications from them to relatives back home. That was it," said a former high-ranking U.S. official.  

The U.S. didn't know where the group was held nor all of the members’ identities. On occasion, there would be reports that all or some had been released, but there was little confirmation. Many in U.S. intelligence believed Iran held onto them for use as bargaining chips and not just with the U.S. They were in effect hostages. If al-Qaida carried out attacks in Iran, as it had in the 1990s, the group could face harm.

On occasion, flurries of intelligence would lead to further investigation, but again without any resolution.

In 2009, Saad bin Laden was killed in a Predator attack in Pakistan, leading to speculation that others had been released. But again, U.S. officials could not determine how many, if any, had been let go.  Moreover, it was not a high priority for the U.S. because the individuals were no longer considered much of a threat since they had been out of action for so long.

Last month, Abu Ghaith was detained in Turkey then was being sent to Kuwait via Jordan. But he was intercepted in Jordan and brought to the U.S., according to U.S. officials. 

According to court documents, he has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans, including actions related to the 9/11 attacks.

Officials say that Abu Ghaith is unlikely to have any operational information because he has been in Iran for so long.  Now, they admit his intelligence value may be more about his captivity in Iran and whether he was released or escaped.

NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams contributed to this report.

Related:

Bin Laden son-in-law captured, whisked to NY on terror charges

GOP protests bringing bin Laden son-in-law to NY

Read the federal indictment of Abu Ghaith in PDF

 

 

 

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, who acted as a spokesman for al-Qaida, has been apprehended, transported to New York and charged with conspiracy to kill Americans, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith appeared alongside bin Laden in a 2001 video in which they took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and warned of more, before he dropped out of sight for more than a decade before his arrest.

"I commend our CIA and FBI, our allies in Jordan, and President Obama for their capture of al-Qaida spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a member of the Homeland Security Committee, who first announced the news. 

---

"I trust he received a vigorous interrogation, and will face swift and certain justice," added King, who is also chairman of the Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

Prosecutors say from at least May 2001 to around 2002, Abu Ghaith served alongside bin Laden, appearing with him and his then-deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, speaking on behalf of the terrorist organization and in support of its mission, and warning that attacks similar to those of September 11, 2001 would continue.

The government says around May 2001, Abu Ghaith urged individuals at a guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swear allegiance to bin Laden. On the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the United States, bin Laden summoned Abu Ghaith and asked for his assistance. He agreed to provide it.

On the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, Abu Ghaith appeared with bin Laden and Zawahiri, and spoke on behalf of al-Qaida, warning the United States and its allies that "[a] great army is gathering against you" and called upon "the nation of Islam" to do battle against "the Jews, the Christians and the Americans," the court document says.

Also, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Abu Ghaith delivered a speech in which he addressed the then-U.S. Secretary of State and warned that "the storms shall not stop, especially the Airplanes Storm," and advised Muslims, children, and opponents of the United States "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises."

Abu Ghaith arranged to be, and was, successfully smuggled from Afghanistan into Iran in 2002, where he spent most of the decade, U.S. officials said.

Even as government officials applauded the arrest of Abu Ghaith, his transport to the United States stirred controversy among lawmakers who were apparently caught by surprise by the news.

"We believe the administration's decision here to bring this person to New York City, if that's what's happened, without letting Congress know is a very bad precedent to set," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who held a press conference with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

"And when we find somebody like this, this close to bin Laden and the senior al-Qaida leadership, the last thing in the world we want to do, in my opinion, is put them in civilian court. This man should be in Guantanamo Bay," Ayotte said.

"So we're putting the administration on notice," said Graham. "We think that sneaking this guy into the country, clearly going around the intent of Congress when it comes to enemy combatants, will be challenged."

Earlier, in an interview on MSNBC, House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., strongly criticized the administration for bringing Abu Ghaith to the United States.

Rogers, a former FBI agent, said that Mirandizing a top al-Qaida suspect and bringing him to the United States for trial creates a host of problems — instead of sending him to the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which was built to handle high value prisoners.

"Al-Qaida leaders captured on the battlefield should not be brought to the United States to stand trial," Rogers said. "We should treat enemy combatants like the enemy. The U.S. court system is not the appropriate venue."

The Obama administration has been trying to clear out Guantanamo and not bring any new prisoners there.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said it's fine with him if Abu Ghaith is put on trial in New York because key state and city officials had been consulted in advance, unlike in the case of terror suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

"Unlike with KSM, Kelly and others had been consulted ahead of time about this and they gave the green light to do it. As you know, (Police Commissioner) Ray Kelly, Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg and I opposed the trial of (Mohammed) in New York and we successfully made sure that didn't happen," said Schumer. "On issues like this, I defer to Commissioner Kelly, and I think the mayor does as well. And he thinks it's OK to do it here, and I'll go by that," Schumer said. 

Jordanian sources confirmed that Abu Ghaith was sent by Turkey via Jordan to Kuwait, and intercepted in Jordan and brought to the U.S.

According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Turkish officials captured Abu Ghaith in the capital Ankara, where a court ruled he had entered the country illegally with a fake passport. The Turkish government then ostensibly deported Abu Ghaith to his birthplace Kuwait, but arranged for him to transit through Jordan where he was ultimately taken into custody by U.S. law enforcement, the officials said.

U.S. officials told NBC that prior to his interception in Turkey, Abu Ghaith, who dropped out of sight after 2002, had spent most of a decade in Iran.

"Nobody's heard a peep. Some people thought he was being held prisoner in Iran, others thought he might be dead," said Evan Kohlmann, an American counter-terrorism analyst for NBC News. 

NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski and Moufaq Khatib NBC News producer in Jordan contributed to this report.

 

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 7, 2013 11:47 AM EST

A former Texas college student from Saudi Arabia was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for trying to make a bomb for use in a religious attack, possibly targeting former U.S. President George W. Bush.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari was sentenced in Amarillo, Texas, where jurors convicted him in June of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say he had collected bomb-making material in his apartment and researched possible targets, including the Dallas home of Bush. A handwritten journal found in his apartment included notes that he believed it was time for "jihad," a Muslim term for holy war.

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The 22-year-old Aldawsari apologized Tuesday for "these bad actions,"  but Judge Donald E. Walter said the evidence against him was overwhelming. Walter acknowledged he was conflicted due to Aldawsari's youth and signs that outside influences had led him astray.

"But the bottom line is that but by the grace of God there would be dead Americans," Walter said. "You would have done it. In every step, it was you all alone."

Aldawsari stood silently in shackles as the sentence was read. The formerly clean-shaven, close-cropped man now had a full beard and long hair, and appeared to have lost a lot of weight.

There is no parole in the federal system.

"Khalid Aldawsari came to this country intent on carrying out an attack," Lisa Monaco, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of agents, analysts, and prosecutors, his plot was thwarted before anyone was harmed."

Aldawsari came to the U.S. legally in 2008 to study chemical engineering. He was arrested in Lubbock, Texas, in February 2011, after federal agents searched his apartment and found explosive chemicals, wiring, a hazmat suit and clocks, along with videos showing how to make the chemical explosive TNP.

Investigators say Aldawsari's goal was to carry out jihad. His attorneys claimed he was a harmless failure who never came close to attacking anyone.

FBI bomb experts say the amounts of chemicals he had would have yielded almost 15 pounds of explosives — about the same amount used per bomb in the 2005 London subway attacks. He also tried to order phenol, a chemical that can be used to make explosives.

Court records show that his emails and journal contained the explosive's recipe.

Prosecutors said other targets he researched included nuclear power plants and the homes of three former soldiers who were stationed at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Potential targets he listed in emails sent to himself included hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, reservoirs in Colorado and California, and Bush's home, which he referred to as the "Tyrant's House."

Aldawsari wrote in one journal entry, "And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad," authorities said.

Prosecutors offered to show the judge a video of the possible damage Aldawsari could have done had he succeeded in assembling explosives. Walter declined.

"I'm fully aware of what 15 pounds of plastic can do," he said.

The FBI said Aldawsari did Internet searches that suggested he was considering concealing explosives in infant dolls or targeting a nightclub with an explosive concealed in a backpack.

He bought other ingredients needed to make an explosive device as well as a soldering kit, glass beakers and flasks and emailed himself instructions for turning a cell phone into a remote detonator, authorities said.

He also wrote in his notebooks about the steps needed to stage a bombing, including renting cars using different driver's licenses, setting up a remote detonation and planning a safe exit, the FBI said.

During his trial, Aldawsari's attorneys acknowledged that their client had intent but argued that he never took the "substantial step" needed to convict him.

Defense attorney Dan Cogdell repeatedly berated Aldawsari as a "failure" and poor student who never came close to threatening anyone. Aldawsari did not testify at trial, but on Tuesday he told Walter he felt lonely and isolated from his family, friends and faith.

"I am sorry for these bad actions, but none of these bad actions did harm to the United States," Aldawsari told Walter.

Aldawsari wrote in his journal that he had been planning a terror attack in the U.S. for years, even before he came to the country on a scholarship," according to court documents. He bemoaned the plight of Muslims and said he was influenced by Osama bin Laden's speeches.

Authorities said Aldawsari purchased bottles of sulfuric and nitric acids — chemicals that can be combined with phenol to create TNP.

Investigators say they were tipped to his online purchases by chemical company Carolina Biological Supply and shipping company Con-way Freight on Feb. 1, 2011. The chemical company reported to the FBI a $435 suspicious purchase, while the shipping company notified Lubbock police and the FBI because it appeared the order wasn't intended for commercial use.

Court records show that Aldawsari had successfully ordered 30 liters of nitric acid and three gallons of concentrated sulfuric acid in December 2010.

At his trial, prosecutors played recordings of a frustrated Aldawsari complaining to the supply company when his order was held up. He had allegedly told the company he wanted the phenol for research to develop a cleaning solution.

Aldawsari had transferred from Texas Tech in early 2011 to nearby South Plains College, where he was studying business. A Saudi industrial company was paying his tuition and living expenses in the U.S.

The judge moved his trial to Amarillo, about 120  milesnorth of Lubbock.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated at 11:58 a.m. ET: WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday tossed out the conviction of Osama bin Laden’s former driver for supporting terrorism, saying the law under which he was tried did not apply to his crime.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan was convicted in 2008 by a panel of six U.S. military officers of providing material support to al-Qaida. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years and released shortly thereafter because he had already spent six years in custody at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detention camp in Cuba.

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He was the first Guatanamo detainee to be convicted of war crimes.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated Hamdan’s conviction even though he has already served his sentence.

Read the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling (PDF)

The court noted that Hamdan’s crime occurred from 1996 to 2001 and said the 2006 Military Commissions  Act  -- which specifically lists material support for terrorism as a war crime triable by military commission  -- cannot be applied retroactively to cover it.

Previous story:
Pentagon releases video of US troops interrogating bin Laden's driver

The court also said that while military commissions may try violations of the international “law of war,” when Hamdan committed the conduct in question the law did not proscribe material support for terrorism as a war crime.   

“Because we read the Military Commissions Act not to retroactively punish new crimes, and because material support for terrorism was not a pre-existing war crime under 10 U.S.C. § 821, Hamdan’s conviction for material support for terrorism cannot stand,” the appeals court ruled.

Hamdan was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 – about two months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks against the U.S. The car he was driving contained two anti-aircraft missiles.

Hamdan’s captors handed him over to U.S. authorities, who transferred him to Guantanamo.

Hamdan was held at Guantanamo as an enemy combatant and was eventually charged with one count of conspiracy. He raised legal objections to the prosecution, and the case made its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court ruled in 2006 that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo were invalid because their structure and procedures violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention.

The ruling prompted Congress to enact a new military commission statute – the 2006 Military Commissions Act.

Hamdan was charged anew under that law with conspiracy and material support for terrorism.

At his military commission trial, prosecutors argued that Hamdan was close to al-Qaida's inner circle, while his lawyers asserted that he was simply a driver and mechanic in the motor pool who needed the $200 monthly salary. 

Hamdan was acquitted of conspiracy but convicted of material support for terrorism. In August 2008 he was sentenced to 66 months’ confinement and credited for having already served most of that time.

After his release in January 2009 in his home country of Yemen, Hamdan continued to appeal his conviction.

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WASHINGTON -- Osama bin Laden's death sent al-Qaida into a decline that will be hard to reverse, the United States said on Tuesday in a report that found terrorist attacks last year fell to their lowest level since 2005.

Describing 2011 as a "landmark year," the United States said other top al-Qaida members killed last year included Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, reportedly the militant organization's No. 2 figure after bin Laden's death, and Anwar al-Awlaki, who led its lethal affiliate in Yemen.

"The loss of bin Laden and these other key operatives puts the network on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse," the State Department said in its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" document, which covers calendar year 2011.

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The report attributed the killings, which included the May 2011 raid in which U.S. commandos shot bin Laden in Pakistan, to improved cooperation on counterterrorism. But it also said al-Qaida is adaptable and poses "an enduring and serious threat."

While saying there were no terrorist attacks in the United States last year, the report asserted that the U.S. government remains concerned about "threats to the homeland," citing the foiled 2009 Christmas Day attempt by the Nigerian "underwear bomber" who sought to blow up a Detroit-bound aircraft.

The report included a statistical annex prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) that showed the overall number of terrorist attacks worldwide fell to 10,283 last year from 11,641 in 2010.

Panetta: Only a 'small handful' of top al-Qaida targets left

The number of worldwide fatalities fell to 12,533 last year from 13,193 the year before, according to the statistics, which NCTC issued in a report published on June 1.

That was the lowest level since 2005, when there were more than 11,000 attacks and more than 14,000 fatalities. The general decline in terrorism-related fatalities -- which peaked at more than 22,000 in 2007 -- reflects, in part, less violence in Iraq.

The report added: 

Sunni extremists accounted for the greatest number of terrorist attacks and fatalities for the third consecutive year. More than 5,700 incidents were attributed to Sunni extremists, accounting for nearly 56 percent of all attacks and about 70 percent of all fatalities ... Secular, political, and anarchist groups were the next largest category of perpetrators, conducting 2,283 attacks with 1,926 fatalities, a drop of 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, from 2010.

The State Department report said that as al-Qaida's "core has gotten weaker," affiliated groups have gained ground, citing al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula as a particular threat and voicing concern about al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

It also reported an increase in terrorist attacks in Africa, due largely to Nigeria's Boko Haram militant group, as well as in the Western Hemisphere, which it attributed chiefly to FARC insurgents in Colombia.

Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, said last year was also significant for the "Arab Spring" of popular protests and what he described as its rebuff to al-Qaida's ideology.

"We saw millions of citizens throughout the Middle East advance peaceful public demands for change without any reference to al-Qaida's incendiary world view," he said, adding that upheavals also present risks.

"Revolutionary transformations have many bumps in the road," he added. "Inspiring as the moment may be, we are not blind to the attendant perils."

The report cites Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism.

It added: 

Al-Qaida and its affiliates and adherents are far from the only terrorist threat the United States faces. Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, continues to undermine international efforts to promote peace and democracy and threatens stability, especially in the Middle East and South Asia. Its use of terrorism as an instrument of policy was exemplified by the involvement of elements of the Iranian regime in the plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, a conspiracy that the international community strongly condemned through a UN General Assembly resolution in November.

It highlighted that Syria was "mired in significant civil unrest for most of 2011" but "continued its strong partnership" with Iran.

The report added:

Syria has laws on the books pertaining to counterterrorism and terrorist financing, but it largely used these legal instruments against opponents of the regime, including political protesters and other members of the growing oppositionist movement.

The State Department also highlighted other forms of violent extremism around the world -- including attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that killed at least 88 people; anarchists in Greece and Italy targeting government offices, foreign missions and symbols of the state; as well as dissident Republican groups in Northern Ireland.

The National Counterterrorism Center's annex also highlighted:

• Attacks on government facilities decreased by about 43 percent from 2010, from 796 attacks to 453 attacks in 2011.
• There was a sharp increase in the number of attacks directed at energy infrastructure, including fuel tankers, fuel pipelines and electrical networks, rising from 299 attacks in 2010 to 438 attacks in 2011.
• The number of attacks directed at public places declined in each of the past five years, from a high of 4,121 attacks in 2007 to 2,186 attacks in 2011.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ibrahim al Qosi, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, has been released from Guantanamo and returned to Sudan, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

In July 2010, al Qosi pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy. He had been detained at Guantanamo following his capture at the Pakistani border in December 2001 and was released according to a plea agreement with the U.S.

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Al Qosi, who was born in Sudan around 1960, left in 1996 to join Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, where he provided services to bin Laden and other al-Qaida members as a driver, bodyguard and cook. In the early 1990s, he trained with jihadists and worked as an accountant for a company affiliated with Osama bin Laden, according to DOD documents released by WikiLeaks.

Al Qosi had been sentenced to a 14-year term for crimes committed between 1996 to 2001, but served two years in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors. The U.S. had agreed to return al Qosi to Sudan upon completing two years of his sentence.

"Although the United States had the legal authority to continue holding al Qosi under the [Authorization for the Use of Military Force], we coordinated with the Government of Sudan on appropriate security measures to mitigate any threat he continues to pose," said Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale in a statement to msnbc.com.

Paul Reichler, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who represented al Qosi pro bono for the past seven years, said his client will participate in a re-entry program designed by the Sudanese government for former detainees.

According to a document published by the government in 2010, nine Sudanese nationals had been returned from Guantanamo and been subject to the re-entry program. At that time, none were known to "have engaged in hostilities against the United States, its interests or its allies since their return to Sudan." 

"I’m very glad that he’s a free man," said Reichler, who added that he would have withdrawn his representation of al Qosi if at any time he seemed to be a terrorist or a threat to the U.S. According to al Qosi's court statement, he had no knowledge or or participation in the 1998 Tanzania and Kenya embassy attacks or the September 11 attacks, though he continued to provide logistical support to al-Qaida after these events.

"I believe he is a decent and honorable person whose only desire is to go home to his family, live in peace and tranquility and engage in productive labor in his family business, and he has no desire to be associated with violent movements of any kind," said Reichler.

Al Qosi arrived in the capital city of Khartoum Tuesday evening Eastern time, and according to court documents, will live with his wife, two daughters and other family members upon returning. In a letter to the Military Commission in January 2011, al Qosi's mother and father said that he would manage a family shop in the town of Atira.

One-hundred and sixty-eight detainees remain at Guantanamo. Reichler, who does not represent any other Guantanamo clients, said that many detainees might be interested in negotiating a plea agreement, but that there has been a high degree of skepticism that the U.S. would honor its word.

With al Qosi's release, Reichler said, "I suspect that there will be many who will seek plea agreements."

Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at msnbc.com. Follow her on Twitter here.

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan – The brother of the Pakistani doctor imprisoned for helping the CIA to track Osama bin Laden says the family needs protection, and the U.S. government should provide it. 

Jamil Afridi, elder brother to Dr. Shakil Afridi, spoke to NBC News on Monday in Peshawar, after he and his lawyers addressed a group of journalists about his brother's case. 

Pakistan jails doctor who helped CIA track down bin Laden

"My appeal to the U.S. government is that they give Dr. Shakil protection, and give us – his brothers and sisters – protection as well," said Afridi. "We have no protection here."

Dr. Shakil Afridi was arrested in the weeks after the May 2011 U.S. raid on the bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The doctor ran a fake vaccination campaign for U.S. intelligence as part of an attempt to get inside the compound and confirm Bin Laden's location. Though those plans failed, U.S. officials have said Dr. Afridi's efforts did help lead them to bin Laden. 

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Dr. Afridi was tried under a legal system known as the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), which applies only in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas. Trials are conducted by a local government official in consultation with tribal elders, and the accused are not allowed legal representation. Dr. Afridi was convicted on treason charges and sentenced to 33 years in prison. 

His brother dismissed the charges against Dr. Afridi as "false," saying he did nothing against Pakistan's national interest, and that "anything" could happen to him or his family now. 

'Schizophrenic ally': US to ax $33 million in Pakistan aid?

"For one whole year, we had no idea where he was – whether he was alive or dead," said Afridi. "Now they say he's in Central Jail, Peshawar, but we're not allowed to see him."

Dr. Afridi's conviction further complicated already tense relations between the U.S. and Pakistan. U.S. officials demanded his release, claiming his efforts helped to capture an enemy to both Pakistan and the U.S. But Pakistani officials have called Dr. Afridi's decision to work for a foreign intelligence agency a "serious offense." 

U.S. officials say they expect to continue the conversation about Dr. Afridi with their Pakistani counterparts, but the list of unresolved issues between the two countries continues to grow.

Both sides are negotiating the re-opening of the overland NATO supply routes that run through Pakistan – shuttered since last November – and the Pakistan government also is calling  for a complete halt on all U.S. drone strikes within the country. In the last week alone, there have been four strikes carried out in the border region with Afghanistan. 

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WASHINGTON — A Senate panel expressed its outrage Thursday over Pakistan's conviction of a doctor who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden, voting to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 million — $1 million for every year of the physician's 33-year sentence for high treason.

"It's arbitrary, but the hope is that Pakistan will realize we are serious," said Senator Richard Durbin after the unanimous 30-0 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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"It's outrageous that they (the Pakistanis) would say a man who helped us find Osama bin Laden is a traitor," said Durbin, the Senate's number two Democrat.

Pakistan jails doctor who helped CIA find Osama bin Laden

The sentencing on Wednesday of Dr Shakil Afridi for 33 years on treason charges added to U.S. frustrations with Pakistan over what Washington sees as its reluctance to help combat Islamist militants fighting the Afghan government and the closure of supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan.

'A schizophrenic ally'
The punitive move came on top of deep reductions the Appropriations Committee already had made to President Barack Obama's budget request for Pakistan, a reflection of the growing congressional anger over its cooperation in combatting terrorism. The overall foreign aid budget for next year had slashed more than half of the proposed assistance and threatened further reductions if Islamabad failed to open the overland supply routes.

"We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don't need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama bin Laden to an end," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who pushed for the additional cut in aid. 

Fuel tankers sit idle during Pakistan-US dispute over supply routes

He called Pakistan "a schizophrenic ally," helping the United States at one turn, but then aiding the Haqqani network which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Americans. The group also has ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the jailing of the doctor was "unjust and unwarranted" and vowed to continue to press the case with Islamabad. "The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr. Afridi."

Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the American intelligence agency track down bin Laden in a Pakistani town last year. 

Aid workers become targets as Pakistan faces new crisis

The al-Qaida leader was killed in the town of Abbottabad a year ago in a unilateral U.S. special forces raid that heavily damaged ties between Islamabad and Washington. Since then, there have been growing calls in the U.S. Congress to cut off some or all of U.S. aid.

Senator John McCain, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said lawmakers had agreed to withhold certain military aid for Pakistan until the defense secretary certifies that Pakistan is not detaining people like Afridi.

"All of us are outraged at the imprisonment and sentencing of some 33 years — virtually a death sentence — to the doctor in Pakistan who was instrumental ... in the removal of Osama bin Laden," McCain said, adding that Afridi was innocent of any wrongdoing. "That has frankly outraged all of us."

McCain criticizes Pakistan for jailing of doctor

The Senate Appropriations Committee's action docking Pakistan's aid came after a subcommittee earlier in the week slashed assistance to Islamabad -- and warned it would withhold even more cash if Pakistan does not reopen supply routes for NATO soldiers in neighboring Afghanistan.

Members of the committee complained about mafia-style extortion by Pakistan in seeking truck fees in exchange for opening the supply lines. The cost had been $250 per truck prior to the attack. Pakistan is now demanding $5,000 per truck. The United States has countered at $500.

Pakistan has been one of the leading recipients of U.S. foreign aid in recent years. Even after the cuts voted this week it still would receive about $1 billion in fiscal 2013, if the full Senate and House of Representatives approve. That figure includes $184 million for State Department operations and $800 million for foreign assistance. Counterinsurgency money for Pakistan would be limited to $50 million.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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