The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, demanding records about the detention in the United Arab Emirates of a U.S. citizen who claims that the U.S. government colluded in his arrest and torture.
Naji Hamdan, a naturalized American of Lebanese origin, was arrested in the U.A.E. in 2008 and eventually convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to 18 months in prison by a court in Abu Dhabi. He was released almost immediately because of time served in pretrial detention and was deported to Lebanon, where he now lives with his family.
Hamdan, 44, who previously owned an auto parts store in Los Angeles and managed an Islamic center, claims that he confessed under torture at a secret prison in the U.A.E. and that the U.S. government orchestrated his arrest and interrogation.
