U.S. hearing set for citizen in Saudi jail

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A Washington court has set a second hearing in the case of Ahmed Abu Ali, a U.S. citizen detained in Saudi Arabia, allegedly with U.S. government approval.

"We're taking the position that it's an entirely U.S. case," Morton Sklar, an attorney for Abu Ali's family, told UPI.

The U.S. government is arguing Abu Ali's detention is purely a Saudi matter.

The second hearing, set to take place Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, will evaluate a preliminary injunction filed by Abu Ali's family to prevent the United States from pressuring Saudi Arabia to charge Abu Ali with a crime.

In the more than a year Abu Ali has been held in Saudi Arabia, he has never been charged.

Sklar said Saudi authorities have indicated they would gladly turn Abu Ali over to U.S. authorities if the United States would request his return.

Abu Ali has been accused of being linked to a Pakistani militant group. His family's lawyers say he is being held in Saudi Arabia -- a country with looser detention and torture laws -- at the request of the United States.