Convicted shopping mall terrorist turned down plea deal

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A convicted terrorist sentenced to 10 years in prison turned down plea deals that would have required him to acknowledge ties with al-Qaida and testify against other terror suspects, The Associated Press has learned. The deals would have meant fewer years behind bars for Somali immigrant Nuradin Abdi and allowed him to avoid deportation at the end of his prison term. The US government offered the deals after Abdi was indicted in 2004 on charges he plotted to blow up an Ohio shopping mall, according to Yusuf Abucar, a family spokesman, and David Smith, an attorney who previously represented convicted terrorist Iyman Faris. Abdi, who is to be deported after serving his sentence, was offered five years in prison minus his time already served and an immigration green card, Abucar and Smith said Wednesday.