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By SAM HANANEL
Associated Press Writer

December 16, 2004, 1:44 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- An American jailed in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of
terrorist ties may have a right to challenge his detention in an
American court if evidence shows he was arrested at the behest of the
U.S. government, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected the government's request to
dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. He ordered federal lawyers to
produce documents that would show whether U.S. officials played a role
in the arrest of Ahmed Abu Ali, a 23-year-old who grew up in Falls
Church, Va.

Abu Ali was enrolled in a Saudi university when he was imprisoned
without charges on June 11, 2003. Since then the FBI has questioned Abu
Ali twice in Saudi Arabia about alleged terrorist activity in Virginia.

A lawsuit filed by Abu Ali's family in U.S. District Court said he
should have the same chance to contest his detention that the Supreme
Court gave to foreign-born terrorism suspects held at the U.S. Navy base
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Lawyers for Abu Ali contend the United States ordered the Saudi
government to arrest and hold Abu Ali so he could be tortured for
information without recourse in U.S. courts. Justice Department
officials say Saudi officials acted on their own and plan to file
charges against Abu Ali.

Bates rejected the U.S. government's position that an American court
could never have jurisdiction to consider the plight of a U.S. citizen
held captive in a foreign country.

Bates wrote that such a declaration is too sweeping and would allow the
government "to deliver a United States citizen to a foreign country to
avoid constitutional scrutiny, or ... work through the intermediary of a
foreign country to detain a United States citizen abroad."

"The court concludes that a citizen cannot be so easily separated from
his constitutional rights," he said.

Bates said the evidence provided by Abu Ali's family of U.S. involvement
is "considerable." He said the government must provide documents to
support its argument before he rules whether to hear the case.

Bates has ordered the government and lawyers for Abu Ali to reach an
agreement by Jan. 10 on the type of documents that should be produced.

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said officials were
reviewing the decision and had no immediate comment.

Morton Sklar, a lawyer for the World Organization for Human Rights who
represents Abu Ali, contends this case represents a larger U.S. policy.

"It's using other countries to detain and interrogate people to get
information using techniques that the U.S. government is not permitted
to use, like torture," Sklar said.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia tried this year to link Abu Ali, who
holds U.S.-Jordanian dual citizenship, to other men who later were
convicted of training for holy war against the United States by playing
paintball games in the Virginia woods. Abu Ali was not charged in that case.

Abu Ali's family has cited two instances where they say the assistant
U.S. attorney in the Virginia case made comments indicating that Abu Ali
has had his fingernails removed in the Saudi jail. They also say a
witness in Saudi Arabia told them Abu Ali was in so much pain he was
unable to pick up a pen to sign documents.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...world-headlines

If Osama doesn't drop his name pretty soon, Bush will have him in Saudi
Arabia, removing his fingernails.

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