Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > American born son of Saudi embassy employee who joined Al Qaeda and plotted to kill Bush defended by CAIR lawyer
American born son of Saudi embassy employee who joined Al Qaeda and plotted to kill Bush defended by CAIR lawyer
Council on American Arab Relations legal advisor Khurrum Waheed also defending Rafiq Sabir who swore allegiance to Al Qaeda
November 23, 2005
24 Year Old Son Of Saudi Embassy Employee Convicted In Bush Assassination Plot
24 Year Old Son Of Saudi Embassy Employee Convicted In Bush Assassination Plot
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=pn1.11.22.05ali%2Ehtm
November 22, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Ahmed Abu Ali a 24 year-old Arab American college student and member of al-Qaeda, was convicted today of engaging in a plot to assassinate President Bush. Ali was arrested in 2003 by authorities at the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia. In pre-trial proceedings Ali claimed that his confession was the result of Saudi torture but he refused to testify during the general trial proceedings and as a result the jury which came to a verdict in 2 days never heard the now suspect claim.
Ali's father (Omar) is an employee of the Saudi Embassy which raises serious questions as to the degree to which Ali might have had access to the president and other prominent politicians.
Abu Ali's defense attorney is no other than the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] director of civil rights Khurrum Wahid. Wahid is also engaged in defending the Islamic Center of Boca Raton's Rafiq Sabir on charges of giving material aid to al-Qaeda.
Of the case government prosecutor Stephen Campbel said "The true focus of his [Ali's] education quickly became apparent...Instead of studying Islamic law, he began attending secret terrorist training sessions."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17346312%255E2703,00.html
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Muslim student guilty of conspiring to kill Bush
24 Nov O5
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: An American Muslim student charged with joining al-Qa'ida and plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush was convicted yesterday on all counts.
The federal jury rejected Ahmed Omar Abu Ali's claim that Saudi security officers whipped and tortured him into a false confession.
Abu Ali - a 24-year-old US citizen born to a Jordanian father and raised in Falls Church, Virginia - could get life in prison on charges that included conspiracy to assassinate the President, conspiracy to hijack aircraft and providing support to al-Qa'ida. His sentencing is scheduled for February 17.
The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 days. Abu Ali swallowed hard before the verdict was read but otherwise showed little emotion. He did not testify during his trial.
Defence lawyer Khurrum Wahid said Abu Ali would appeal. Mr Wahid said his client was "disappointed that the jury didn't see the truth, and he wants us to continue the fight".
Mr Wahid said it was difficult for anyone to get a fair trial in the US when the accusations involved al-Qa'ida.
"I think the country went through a very traumatic event on September 11 and it's very difficult for people to separate that from the facts in a particular case," he said.
Jurors in the three-week trial saw a videotaped confession in which Abu Ali said he joined al-Qa'ida because he hated the US for its support of Israel.
Notes taken by his Saudi interrogators said he discussed many potential terror plots, but the one that most appealed to him was killing "the leader of the infidels" - Mr Bush.
Defence lawyers argued that Abu Ali gave a false confession after being whipped and beaten by agents of the Saudi security force, the Mubahith.
But prosecutors denied that Abu Ali, who was enrolled at the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia at the time of his arrest in June 2003, was mistreated.
They presented video testimony from Abu Ali's Saudi interrogators, who said he had confessed immediately after being confronted with evidence obtained from other suspected al-Qa'ida members.
AP
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