Suspect in Terror Plot Appears in Court

Category: Across The Nation

Published on Friday, February 25, 2011 14:45

Written by Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas - The lawyer for a college student accused
of plotting to blow up key U.S. targets says his client will plead
not guilty.

In a statement, attorney Rod Hobson says in America, "everyone
is entitled to the presumption of innocence" and a "fair trial."

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a college student from
Saudi Arabia who studied chemical engineering in Texas, was
arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted use of a weapon of
mass destruction.

He made his first court appearance today in Lubbock, handcuffed
and with his feet shackled. A federal judge asked him if he
understood the charges against him, and ordered him to remain in
custody until a March 11 detention hearing.

Prosecutors say the 20-year-old had planned for years to launch
a terrorist attack. Potential targets allegedly included the Dallas
home of former President George W. Bush.

Court documents say a journal Aldawsari kept describes a plan to
place bombs in rental cars and remotely detonate them in New York
City during rush hour.