Ahmed Omar Abu Ali

Defense attorneys for an al-Qaida sleeper agent plan to argue at his sentencing this week that his five years spent locked up without charge was enough punishment and he should be immediately released. Former Bradley University student Ali al-Marri, a 44-year-old native of Qatar, pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. He will be sentenced this week in a federal court in Peoria, Ill. Prosecutors have recommended the maximum 15 years behind bars, and the judge's decision could have far-reaching effects. The United States still holds more than 200 people without ... Read Full Story

The federal government's most secure prison has determined that two books written by President Barack Obama contain material "potentially detrimental to national security" and rejected an inmate's request to read them. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is serving a 30-year sentence at the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colo., for joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. Last year, Abu Ali requested two books written by Obama: "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope." But prison officials, citing guidance from the FBI, determined that passages in both books contain information that could damage national security. A prison spokeswoman referred questions ... Read Full Story

A Virginia man convicted of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush is due back in court for resentencing. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who grew up in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, was convicted in federal court in 2005. He's scheduled to be in a Virginia courtroom Monday morning. He joined al-Qaida after traveling to Saudi Arabia to attend college in 2002. As a member of a terror cell there, he discussed numerous potential attacks, including a plan to assassinate Bush. Abu Ali argued that the main piece of evidence against him — a videotaped confession to Saudi authorities — ... Read Full Story

A US national was sentenced to life in prison Monday for joining an Al-Qaeda plot to assassinate then-president George W. Bush, court officials said. Ahmad Omar Abu Ali, 28, had been sentenced in 2006 to 30 years in jail but that decision was overturned at too "lenient" by an appeals court. The US-born Abu Ali was convicted in late 2005 on six charges, including providing material support to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Prosecutors said Abu Ali plotted with an accomplice to either shoot Bush or kill the US leader with a car bomb. Abu Ali was arrested in 2003 by authorities in Saudi Arabia, ... Read Full Story

The Islamic Saudi Academy has made a small effort to clean up some of their textbooks that have been criticized over the years for their anti non-Muslim content but enough intolerance still remains which will continue to cause criticism. I wonder why they even bothered. ----- Also see: Va. Islamic School Changes Texts, May Still Face Criticism Washington Post - ‎34 minutes ago‎ The Islamic Saudi Academy deleted some of the most contentious passages from the texts. But copies provided to The Associated Press show that enough ... Saudi Academy in Va. revises Islamic history books The Associated Press - ‎4 hours ago‎ In ... Read Full Story