Treatment by Saudis At Issue in Terror Case. Federal prosecutors denied yesterday that an American student charged in an al Qaeda plot to kill President Bush was tortured in Saudi Arabia and called him a “grave danger” to the United States. In papers filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said that the student, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, saw a doctor Monday and that the physician found no evidence of harm. The prosecutor said Abu Ali was allowed to play soccer and work out while in Saudi custody and called his allegations of mistreatment “an utter fabrication.” An attorney for Abu Ali said in court this week that his client was whipped and handcuffed while he was held in a Saudi prison from June 2003 until early this week. Saudi security sources said yesterday that officers had used physical and psychological pressure on Abu Ali to elicit information about al Qaeda cells and operations but that it stopped short of severe or prolonged torture. They said the FBI was not directly involved and compared the treatment to tactics used by U.S. military officers against suspected terrorist detainees. Full Story
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