The man convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush has been moved to the Supermax Prison in Colorado, delaying his appeal until next month.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, of Virginia, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in March 2006 after he was found guilty of working alongside Al Qaeda in a plan to assassinate the president. The Department of Justice asked for life imprisonment, but District Judge Gerald Lee gave him a lesser sentence, saying Ali’s plans “did not result in one single victim.”

Ali was due to begin his appeal this week. A lawyer who represented Ali at his trial, Khurrim Wahid, said the decision to transfer him was made on the basis of Ali’s “security classification.”

However, Ali’s appeal lawyer, Joshua Dratel, said he did not know why the decision had been made and said he intended to “challenge it as part of the appeal.” Ali “does not fit the profile of the other prisoners in Supermax,” he said. Inmates at Supermax are confined to their cells for up to 23 hours a day.

Ali was arrested in Saudi Arabia in June 2003 and after interrogation confessed to involvement in Al Qaeda plans. His defense team claims, however, that he was “coerced into giving the confession,” and said he posed “no terrorist threat.” His family said he was in Saudi Arabia taking his final examinations in religious studies at Medina University at the time of his arrest.

But FBI reports disclosed in a new book by Ron Suskind suggest Ali had regular e-mail contact with Mohammed Sidique Khan, the leader of the July 2005 attacks in London. Ali’s lawyers said they believe these reports were intended to influence the upcoming appeal.