More on this case, just in from AP, with thanks to JJP Mackie:
ALEXANDRIA, Va. “” A former Virginia high school valedictorian who had been detained in Saudi Arabia as a suspected terrorist was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and with supporting the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court but did not enter a plea. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars.
The federal indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified co-conspirator discussed plans for Abu Ali to assassinate Bush. They discussed two scenarios, the indictment said, one in which Abu Ali “would get close enough to the president to shoot him on the street” and, alternatively, “an operation in which Abu Ali would detonate a car bomb.”
According to the indictment, Abu Ali obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator to assassinate the president.
A religious blessing, eh? No doubt those Methodists again.
More than 100 supporters of Abu Ali crowded the courtroom and laughed when the charge was read aloud alleging that he conspired to assassinate Bush.
When Abu Ali asked to speak, U.S. Magistrate Liam O’Grady suggested he consult with his attorney, Ashraf Nubani.
“He was tortured,” Nubani told the court. “He has the evidence on his back. He was whipped. He was handcuffed for days at a time.”
Has there ever been a Muslim detained by the United States on terror-related charges who wasn’t tortured? These kinds of claims would have a great deal more credibility if they weren’t made in every case.
UPDATE: Here is a pdf of the indictment (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist).