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Man found guilty in Bush Qaeda plot

Posted on: Tuesday, 22 November 2005, 15:12 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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