New York ( CNN ) -- Al Qaeda propagandist Sulaiman Abu Ghaith had a long plane ride last week to New York and an American jail cell located blocks from ground zero of the September 11 attacks . He filled that time , in part , by talking to U.S. investigators . It was an odd end to a journey that began just weeks earlier in Iran . Abu Ghaith , for reasons still unclear , left Iran and entered Turkey using a forged Saudi passport , Turkish media reported . The CIA tracked him to a Turkish hotel room . He was detained by Turkish officials in early February , but they refused for a month to turn him over to the U.S . Instead , Turkey expelled Abu Ghaith and put him on a plane to Kuwait , where he was born , sources said . U.S. law enforcement took him into custody during a stopover in Jordan . Members of HIG -- the High Value Interrogation Group , which includes the CIA -- were also involved in the operation . Abu Ghaith apparently was n't quiet during his overseas flight with U.S. authorities . The conversations , confirmed by a U.S. official with knowledge of them , are expected to be part of the government 's case to prove Abu Ghaith helped conspire to kill Americans and recruited members for al Qaeda . The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment on whether or when Abu Ghaith was read his Miranda rights after his arrest . However , intelligence experts say that is required if prosecutors intend to use his lengthy statement during trial . `` That would be the way it was done , '' says Mitchell Silber , an executive managing director with the security firm K2 Intelligence and the New York Police Department 's former director of Intelligence analysis . Sources and intelligence experts told CNN it 's questionable how helpful Abu Ghaith , one of Osama bin Laden 's sons-in-law , could be in terms of current intelligence , because he has been out of the loop for years . He has lived in Iran since 2002 , mostly under house arrest . `` He 's a low-level target with high political value , '' Silber told CNN . `` His main value would be ( if he 's ) able to help quantify and assess the former top al Qaeda leaders with him under house arrest in Iran , '' Silber says . Silber added the U.S. would want Abu Ghaith to `` describe the nature of the Iranian treatment of them , '' including `` how adversarial the relationship is between Iran and al Qaeda . '' There is concern former al Qaeda leaders in Iran could rise to power again . But the relationship between the predominantly Shiite Iranians and the largely Sunni al Qaeda members is a complex one . Just how do the Iranians view al Qaeda ? Do they see opportunities for cooperation ? Or is the extreme Sunni philosophy of the group too much for them ? It 's something investigators would like to know , and Abu Ghaith may have insights . Strange bedfellows -- Iran and al Qaeda . On Friday , the fiery former al Qaeda spokesman walked into federal court with his hands cuffed . He was only about a mile from ground zero in the very country he had targeted in multiple video messages , warning Americans they would be attacked again after 9/11 by `` airplane storms '' and biochemical attacks . At his arraignment , his cuffs now removed , a not guilty plea was entered on Abu Ghaith 's behalf by Philip Weinstein , the attorney appointed to represent him . Abu Ghaith told the court , through an Arabic interpreter , he had no money to pay for a lawyer . Prosecutors did n't reveal what Abu Ghaith had said to them , only telling the court he had made an `` extensive statement '' after his arrest that filled 22 pages . The charges in the indictment were sealed until his arrest . He is being held without bond until his next appearance in April . No trial date has been set . If found guilty , Abu Ghaith faces life in prison .
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith 's statement , given after his arrest , is 22 pages long . It was written in Arabic and translated into English by the FBI agent who arrested him. Concern is al Qaeda could gain power in Iran again . Abu Graith is charged with conspiracy to kill Americans .