Middle East studies in the News

Virginia Islamic School Valedictorian Gets Life Sentence for Plotting to Assassinate Bush [incl. Islamic Saudi Academy]

by Robert Spencer
Jihad Watch
July 27, 2009

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/027052.php

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/7867

"In a brief statement to the court Monday, Abu Ali said Judge Lee would have to appear one day before a divine tribunal. Abu Ali said that if the judge was comfortable with such a prospect, he could impose any sentence he desired." I am sure Judge Lee is sleeping just fine at night.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali graduated from the Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia in 1999. He was valedictorian of his class. What did he learn at the Islamic Saudi Academy, which was found years later to be teaching Islamic supremacism and hatred of Jews, that may have led him to believe that killing the President of the United States would be a good and noble thing for him to do as a religious Muslim?

And shouldn't the question of what the Islamic Saudi Academy teaches be paramount for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which is considering allowing that school to expand? Pamela has the details on that, and about what you can do to register your concerns about this school.

"US Al-Qaida Member Sentenced to Life for Bush Plot," from VOA News, July 27 (thanks to JCB):

A U.S. court has sentenced an American al-Qaida member to life in prison for plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush in 2003.

A judge in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia had originally sentenced Ahmed Omar Abu Ali to a 30-year prison term. But a higher court ruled the punishment was too lenient and sent the case back for re-sentencing.

The U.S.-born Abu Ali was convicted in 2005 of involvement in an al-Qaida plot to kill Mr. Bush and carry out other terrorist acts. Prosecutors said the 28-year-old joined al-Qaida while studying in Saudi Arabia in 2002.

Saudi authorities detained Abu Ali in 2003 in a crackdown on militants and jailed him for 20 months before extraditing him to the United States.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said Monday he increased Abu Ali's sentence to a life term because of his refusal to renounce terrorism and the risk he would pose to the public if released.

Abu Ali says Saudi authorities tortured him into confessing. Judge Lee, a jury and an appeals court all rejected the claim.

In a brief statement to the court Monday, Abu Ali said Judge Lee would have to appear one day before a divine tribunal. Abu Ali said that if the judge was comfortable with such a prospect, he could impose any sentence he desired....

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

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