NEW YORK – A senior al-Qaida leader and son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, captured in Jordan a week ago, pleaded not guilty Friday in a heavily secured New York courtroom to plotting against Americans before and immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks in his role as the terror network’s top spokesman.

Bearded and balding, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was escorted into the largest courtroom at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where he entered the plea through a lawyer to one count of conspiracy to kill Americans in a case that marks a legal victory for President Barack Obama’s administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Cronan revealed that Abu Ghaith gave an “extensive post-arrest statement” that totaled 22 pages after he was arrested overseas the night of Feb. 28 and arrived March 1 in the U.S. The prosecutor said nothing about the contents of Abu Ghaith’s statement.