Doctor Accused of Pledging to Help Al Qaeda Testitfies
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NEW YORK (AP) – A Florida doctor accused of pledging his life to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden testified Monday that he had promised he would be willing to treat Iraqis who were injured fighting Americans while he worked at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia.
The admission by Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir was elicited during a third day of combative questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Hou.
Mr. Hou attacked Dr. Sabir’s credibility repeatedly during a full morning of questioning in Federal District Court in Manhattan, where Sabir is accused of providing material support to terrorists by promising to treat injured Al Qaeda fighters. If convicted, Mr. Sabir could face up to 30 years in prison.
As he had two days last week, Mr. Hou questioned Dr. Sabir about what he knew of Al Qaeda and the group’s efforts in places including Afghanistan and Iraq.
Dr. Sabir said he knew “nothing about Al Qaeda except that they are terrorists” and did not know that the group was carrying out bombing attacks against American soldiers in Iraq.
He said he had pledged to treat those who were injured in Iraq while defending their homes but he did not expect any of them to be taken about 800 miles from Iraq to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was working at a military hospital in 2004 and 2005.
Dr. Sabir said he had taken an oath as a physician to treat anyone requiring medical treatment and believed his promise to treat injured Iraqis was consistent with his oath.
Mr. Hou asked the doctor if he supported those who believed they were protecting their homes by fighting American soldiers.
“Morally, yes,” Dr. Sabir answered.
Later, he added: “People fighting for their lives in their homes, you’re entitled to that whether you’re Muslims or non-Muslims.”
The prosecutor pressed the subject, asking Dr. Sabir again if he agreed to medically treat people fighting Americans in Iraq, “so they can get right back in the fight?”
“Yes,” Dr. Sabir said.
Later, Mr. Hou questioned Dr. Sabir extensively about his May 2005 pledge, or bayat, to FBI agent Ali Soufan, who was posing as an Al Qaeda recruiter. Dr. Sabir made the pledge along with his close friend Tariq Shah, a martial arts expert and jazz musician.
Shah and two others, a Washington D.C. cab driver and a Brooklyn bookstore owner, have pleaded guilty in the case and face prison terms of between 13 and 15 years.
