Man found guilty in Bush Qaeda plot

By Deborah Charles

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) – A U.S. man was found
guilty on Tuesday of conspiring with and aiding al Qaeda and
plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush.

A 12-member federal jury at the U.S. District Court found
Ahmed Abu Ali, 24, guilty of all charges in a nine-count
indictment. He had been charged with conspiring to support and
supporting al Qaeda, conspiracy to kill Bush and conspiracy to
commit aircraft hijacking.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee set a February 17,
2006, date to sentence Abu Ali, who faces life in prison.

Abu Ali was arrested in June 2003 while studying at a Saudi
university. He signed confessions and made statements admitting
to the plot against Bush and to having ties to an al Qaeda
cell.

He was held in Saudi Arabia for 20 months before being sent
back to the United States earlier this year to face trial.

In the statements, Abu Ali said he and senior members of an
al Qaeda cell in Medina, Saudi Arabia, discussed how he could
kill Bush. He said they also talked about other types of
attacks, including September 11-like hijackings that could be
carried out in the United States.

Prosecutors said Abu Ali’s goal was to become a planner of
terrorist operations like Mohamed Atta — believed to be the
ringleader of the September 11 hijackers.

Abu Ali said he made up the confessions in order to stop
members of the Saudi domestic security police from torturing
him.

Saudi officials deny the accusations of mistreatment. U.S.
prosecutors — who based most of their case against Abu Ali on
statements made in Saudi Arabia — said there was no evidence
to prove Abu Ali had been tortured.