Testimony About Other Torture Claims Not Allowed in Bush Assassination Plot

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBDU6GDRFE.html

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A Briton and a Canadian who say they were tortured into false confessions by Saudi authorities will not be allowed to testify at the trial of a man accused of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush, a judge ruled Monday.

Lawyers for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an American on trial for numerous terrorism charges, had hoped the men's testimony would bolster Abu Ali's contention that he was tortured into a false confession.

Abu Ali, 24, confessed to the Saudis in July 2003 that he joined al-Qaida while enrolled at a Medina university. He told them he was motivated by his hatred of the United States for its support of Israel and that al-Qaida asked him to establish a terror cell in the United States.

He now says he falsely confessed only after being whipped and beaten by the Saudi security force known as the Mubahith.