Defendant Ahmed Omar Abu Ali: Some Interesting Details

A December 16, 2004 decision by U.S. District Court Judge John Bates includes some interesting facts about Abu Ali: He is apparently associated with the "Virginia paintball" case, in which two men, Randall Royer and Ibrahim al-Hamdi were convicted for their participation in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network." Royer and al Hamdi received long prison terms; seven others pleaded guilty or were convicted in that case, and two were acquitted at trial. Abu Ali might have known defendants in the Royer case; he and three of the Royer defendants were arrested in June 2003 in Saudi Arabia, where he was held there at the request of the FBI until just recently. The Royer gang used the paintball games as training for jihad in Pakistan as part of the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba group there. The grand jury in the Royer case considered Abu Ali's involvement in it and didn't indict him. Abu Ali's father works at the Saudi Embassy, but his connections there failed to spring his son during his 18+ months in Saudi Arabia, during which he was tortured by Saudi police. At various points, the FBI and State Department tried to make a deal for his release, but each attempt fell through.