Ahmed Omar Abu Ali
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- "Abu Ali" redirects here but may also refer to Abu Ali Mustafa of the PFLP
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (Arabic: احمد عمر أبو علي) is a United States citizen who was convicted of providing material support to the al Qaeda terrorist network.
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[edit] Background
Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Falls Church, Virginia, Abu Ali was valedictorian of his class at the Islamic Saudi Academy high school in nearby Alexandria. Abu Ali entered the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999 as an electrical engineering major, but withdrew in the middle of the 2000 spring semester to study Sharia law the Islamic University of Medina in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
[edit] Arrest and Detention in Saudi Arabia
In June 2003, Abu Ali was arrested by Saudi authorities while taking exams at the Islamic University of Medina. He was held for approximately twenty months by the Saudi government, and given the paucity of information coming out of Saudi Arabia about the case, many human rights organizations speculated that Abu Ali's situation was actually a case of extraordinary rendition and that he might be subject to torture.[1][2]
In response to the lengthy detention by the Saudi government, Abu Ali's family, represented by Morton Sklar and the World Organization for Human Rights, filed a civil action against the U.S. government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In the suit, they asked the court to issue a writ of habeas corpus to force the United States government to take action to get Abu Ali returned to the United States. The government challenged the case, claiming that the court did not have jurisdiction either to interfere with U.S. foreign policy (an executive function), or to force the Saudi government to release Abu Ali. Judge John D. Bates issued an order requiring partial discovery to determine if the court did, in fact, have jurisdiction.[3]
[edit] United States Criminal Trial
The District Court in D.C. never got a chance to rule on jurisdiction. In February 2005, Abu Ali was transferred to United States custody pursuant to a criminal indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on February 3, 2005.[4] The indictment charged Abu Ali with two counts of providing material support to terrorists, two counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization (Al Qaeda), one count of contributing goods and services to Al Qaeda, and one count of receiving services from Al Qaeda. The indictment was later amended to add charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to hijack aircraft, and conspiracy to destroy aircraft. The indictment alleged that Abu Ali had joined a terrorist cell in Medina, led by senior al-Qaeda members Ali Al-Faqasi and Zubayr Al-Rimi, and that among the plots they were developing were a plan to assassinate the President of the United States, and a plan to mount 9/11-style attacks using planes transiting through the United States. The criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David H. Laufman and Stephen M. Campbell and U.S. Justice Department Trial Attorney Jerry R. DeMaio.[5]
Abu Ali went to trial in the fall of 2005. The government's evidence was focused on a detailed confession Abu Ali had made while in Saudi custody. Abu Ali challenged the admissibility of the confession, claiming (1) the confession was involuntary due to alleged torture he had suffered at the hands of the Saudis and (2) he should have been given certain constitutional protections (including Miranda warnings), because the interrogations were a joint venture between the FBI and Saudi authorities, rather than a purely Saudi interrogation, which would not have been subject to the same scrutiny under the U.S. Constitution. After an extended pre-trial suppression hearing, in which Abu Ali himself testified,[6] Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who presided over the case, ruled that Abu Ali's confession to Saudi agents was admissible.[7][8]
The jury trial took place in November 2005. Although some human rights groups expressed concern about the trial,[9] on November 22, 2005, after deliberating for two and a half days, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts.[10][11] On March 29, 2006, Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his crime.[12] While prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence, Judge Lee explained that the (relatively) light sentence was handed down because Abu Ali's actions "did not result in one single actual victim. That fact must be taken into account." On appeal, the Fourth Circuit upheld the conviction but overturned the sentence for deviating from guidelines.[13].
[edit] Notes
- ^ Spencer Ackerman, "Suspect Policy", The New Republic, Mar. 14, 2005.
- ^ World Organization for Human Rights USA, Chronology of events through 2004
- ^ Abu Ali v. Ashcroft, 04-1258 (D.D.C. Dec. 16, 2004).
- ^ U.S. v. Abu Ali, 05-CR-53
- ^ DOJ Press Release
- ^ Al Qaeda Suspect Tells of Bush Plot, Washington Post, September 20, 2005.
- ^ Judge Rules in Alleged Bush Assassination Plot is Admissible, USA Today, Oct. 24, 2005.
- ^ Judge Allows Statement by Al Qaeda Suspect, Washington Post, October 24, 2005.
- ^ The trial of Ahmed Abu Ali - Findings of Amnesty International’s trial observation
- ^ Jury Finds Abu Ali Guilty on Terrorism Charges, NPR, Nov. 22, 2005.
- ^ US man guilty of Bush death plot, BBC, November 22, 2005.
- ^ FBI Press Release
- ^ Court orders new sentence for al-Qaida member, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_re_us/bush_plot;_ylt=AvEItiVn9XQrAMbX.qRsjiNH2ocA, Matthew Barakat, AP, June 6, 2008
