A federal trial for a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden accused of conspiring to kill Americans will begin in January in Manhattan, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, who acted as an al Qaeda spokesman in videos, is one of the highest-ranking al Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes related to the Sept. 11 attacks.

He was captured in Jordan on February 28 and brought secretly to the United States by the FBI on March 1.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Tuesday that the trial should begin on January 7, 2014. Abu Ghaith pleaded not guilty on March 8.

His attorneys Martin Cohen and Philip Weinstein were not immediately available to comment. Attorneys representing the government also were not immediately available.

(Reuters)