The self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks says the onetime Osama bin Laden spokesman who is on trial in New York had no role in planning military operations for  Al Qaeda.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, said in a statement filed in Manhattan federal court late Sunday that Sulaiman Abu Ghaith served as an Al Qaeda spokesman because he was "an eloquent, spellbinding speaker."

But Mohammed says Abu Ghaith "had nothing to do with military operations."

Abu Ghaith, who is a son-in-law of bin Laden, is charged with conspiring to kill Americans.

Mohammed is in a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but Abu Ghaith's lawyers hope to use his testimony at the trial.

They would need US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's approval to introduce the information.