This plot sounds like it was a serious one and not just one “lone nut” but a conspiracy-wannabe with a political purpose and a high-profile connnection — Al Qaeda.
If convicted of all the charges, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (search), 23, faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison.
Abu Ali, a former Virginia high school valedictorian, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court but did not enter a plea. He contended that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars.
An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Alexandria on Feb. 3 was unsealed Tuesday. There are 10 alleged co-conspirators in the indictment.
Abu Ali faces six counts n the indictment: conspiracy to provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda; providing material support to Al Qaeda; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; providing material support to terrorists; contribution of services to Al Qaeda; and receipt of funds and services from Al Qaeda.
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.”
Read the details. Can we assume this is the last such plot out there (yes, if we believe the Easter Bunny will vist our house in April).?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.