ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A federal jury in Virginia has convicted a 24-year-old man with al-Qaida training of conspiring to assassinate U.S. President George Bush.
A lawyer for Ahmed Abu Ali said an appeal would be filed, as Abu Ali claims the Saudi government tortured him into confessing.
Abu Ali was born in Texas, but raised in Falls Church, Va., CNN reported. His Jordanian-born father works in the Saudi Embassy in Washington as a computer specialist.
Authorities arrested Abu Ali in June 2003 in Saudi Arabia, where his attorney said he went for religious studies. Prosecutors said that Abu Ali later confessed to having al-Qaida ties and discussing terror plots and showed the jury a videotaped confession Abu Ali gave while in Saudi custody.
Prosecutors said Abu Ali had plotted to shoot Bush on the street or detonate a car bomb.
He will be sentenced in February, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, or a maximum penalty of life behind bars.
