ManSlippers

Man Charged in Alleged Plot to Kill Bush



By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Family and friends who packed a Virginia courtroom to support Ahmed Omar Abu Ali laughed out loud when prosecutors alleged that the former high school valedictorian had plotted to assassinate President Bush.

Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Falls Church, was charged Tuesday with conspiring with al-Qaida to kill the president in a plan that prosecutors said was hatched while the man studied in Saudi Arabia in 2002 and 2003.

Those who know Abu Ali said the accusation simply does not jibe with the mild-mannered boy they knew through his active role in northern Virginia's Muslim community.

"Three words describe him: calm, quiet peaceful," said Jamal Abdulmoty, who knows the Abu Ali family. "He was very wise, very mature for his age. ... We cannot imagine" that he would be involved in an assassination plot.

Abu Ali had been detained for nearly two years by the Saudi Arabian government. His family sued the U.S. government shortly after his arrest there, claiming the Saudis were essentially holding him at the U.S. government's request.

He was returned to the United States and made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court shortly after his arrival Tuesday at Dulles International Airport. He did not enter a plea, but his lawyer said he would plead innocent.

Despite the serious charges Abu Ali faces, his family said Tuesday it was a victory just to have him back in the United States.

"As long as Ahmed has his day in court, I know he will be innocent," said his mother, Faten Abu Ali.

His father, Omar Abu Ali, said Ahmed was born in Houston and raised in northern Virginia, just a few miles from the nation's capital. He attended the Islamic Saudi Academy and graduated as valedictorian.

The private school's teachings have come under scrutiny since the Sept. 11 attacks. Federal court documents in a case against another academy graduate suspected of terrorism indicate that student discussions following Sept. 11 took an anti-American bent and that some students considered the attacks legitimate "payback" for American mistreatment of the Muslim world.

Last year, the school also faced criticism for using textbooks that taught first-graders that Judaism and Christianity are false religions.

Omar Abu Ali, who hadn't seen his son for several years before Tuesday's court appearance, said his son looked "OK" but that he seemed to have lost weight. He had no doubt of his son's innocence.

"It's lies. It's all lies," he said of the government's case.

Abu Ali's lawyers expressed concern that the government's case may be based on evidence obtained through torture. At Tuesday's hearing, Abu Ali offered to show the judge the scars on his back as proof that he was tortured by Saudi authorities.

"He has the evidence on his back," lawyer Ashraf Nubani told the court. "He was whipped. He was handcuffed for days at a time."

According to the indictment, Abu Ali discussed Bush-assassination plans with an unidentified al-Qaida member in 2002 and 2003, while Abu Ali was attending college in Saudi Arabia.

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."

While the indictment does not identify the conspirator, it says he was one of 19 people publicly identified by the Saudi government in 2003 as terrorists.

The only other detail of the alleged plot in the indictment states that Abu Ali received a religious blessing from another unidentified conspirator to assassinate the president.

The White House had no comment on the indictment, referring questions to the Justice Department (news - web sites).

U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said in a statement Tuesday that "after the devastating terrorist attack ... of Sept. 11, this defendant turned his back on America and joined the cause of al-Qaida. He now stands charged with some of the most serious offenses our nation can bring against supporters of terrorism."

More than 100 friends and family jammed the courthouse to show their support for Abu Ali. Many of them laughed in the courtroom when government lawyers described the alleged assassination plot.

The court papers also spell out some of Abu Ali's alleged associations with al-Qaida. In September 2002, according to the indictment, Abu Ali told a friend of his interest in joining al-Qaida. At one point, Abu Ali decided to fight against the Americans in Afghanistan (news - web sites), and unsuccessfully applied for a visa to Iran as a means to gain entry into Afghanistan, according to the indictment.

Al-Qaida members also allegedly provided training in weapons, explosives and document forgery to Abu Ali, the indictment said.

Abu Ali will be in court again Thursday. His lawyers hope to obtain his release pending trial.

CrAZyBeAuTiFuL4

I'm suprised there hasn't been more people accused of this. Bush is not worth spending a lifetime in jail, that's for sure. Anyways...yeah, that's all I got.

Errick

I agree.

FantaOrSprite

I agree. I can't believe one of the US's best president (JFK) got killed while noone has tried to take Bush out. Matt and I were discussing it a while ago. *waits for CIA to be at my door* No I'm not saying I want him killed or shot at, so don't reply to my post about how horrible I am. I'm just shocked noone has tried.

I BET the guy is innocent, the White House is probley getting ready to announce another war or a cut in education and wanted some pity for Bush.

YesJess

Damn! You got them good!

CrAZyBeAuTiFuL4

LMAO! That's so funny...last time I was visiting my Grandma (who is a HUGE anti-bush person) we talked about it too. Not like we were going to do it or anything but yeah...about how we were suprised no one had tried to assissinate him yet or anything. That's where my comment came from, actually. She was like, "I would love to see him taken out...but the consequences I, or anyone else would have to pay, would not be worth his pathetic life." lol...I was like, "GO GRAM!!"

Duffyboy

Completely true as usual RB. Well done.

Lemons

I honestly find it very.. um.. sad that you guys don't even care that the commander and cheif would die. Just because you don't agree with him doesn't mean he deserves death. There are things that a lot of us dont know. A LOT of things are kept secret and maybe we dont know the whole truth, and never will, because both sides are so extremely biased no one will know the truth. I would never want any Democratic President to die, because dispite political differences, we are all americans. Not everyone deserves death.

CrAZyBeAuTiFuL4

For me this has nothing to do with him being a Conservative or a Republican. I just don't like him...plain and simple. I don't recall saying that I thought he deserved to die...just that I was suprised no one had tried to do anything about it yet.ut neither do all the kids he has sent over to Iraq to fight this stupid war. What goes around comes around I say. And he might not deserve to die...but neither did all the American soldiers and Iraqui's that have been killed in this war...but he doesn't seem to be loosing any sleep over that.

Lemons

But how do you know the guy who was planing to do it, wasn't really planning it? People don't go to war with a whole country because of 1 person. And people don't get arrested for no reason. The man had plots.