Mistaken identity defence raised in US terror case

A defence lawyer says the suspect whom prosecutors call a relative of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda’s spokesman after the 2001 terror attacks on the US might be the wrong man.

New York Judge Lewis Kaplan scheduled a Friday hearing after claims were made on Wednesday on behalf of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith.

Attorney Zoe Dolan wrote that the defense recently learned there may be a second person with a similar name as Abu Ghaith who is at Guantanamo Bay. Dolan says the government is believed to have information about the other individual.

A trial is scheduled to begin on Monday for Abu Ghaith. He is charged with conspiring to kill Americans in his role as Al Qaeda’s spokesman.

Prosecutors did not immediately return a message for comment.