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The man described as a spokesman for Osama Bin Laden has pleaded not guilty in New York to charges he helped plot the 9/11 attacks on the US, BBC reported. 

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, 47, was turned over to US officials in Jordan within the last week after being deported from Turkey, authorities have said.

A Kuwaiti preacher, Mr Abu Ghaith is Bin Laden's son-in-law, officials said.

The Obama administration's decision to try him in civilian court has been criticised by Republicans.

They say Mr Abu Ghaith should be sent to the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to face a military tribunal.

Bin Laden was killed in a May 2011 raid on his hideout in Pakistan by a team of US commandos.

On Friday, Mr Abu Ghaith pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to kill US nationals, in a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan about half a mile (0.8km) from the site of the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

Prosecutor John Cronan told the court that Mr Abu Ghaith had given an "extensive post-arrest statement" totaling 22 pages.

A trial is set to begin on 8 April and is expected to last about three weeks.

"Sulaiman Abu Ghaith held a key position in al-Qaeda, comparable to the consigliere in a mob family or propaganda minister in a totalitarian regime," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos.

"He used his position to threaten the United States and incite its enemies."