Doctor said he'd treat anti-U.S. forces

A Florida doctor accused of pledging his life to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden testified Monday that he promised to treat Iraqis who fought Americans while he worked at a military hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir said that he had pledged to treat those who were injured in Iraq defending their homes, but that he did not expect any of them to be taken hundreds of miles from Iraq to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was working at a military hospital in 2004 and 2005.

Sabir said he believed that his promise to give medical attention to injured Iraqis was consistent with his oath as a physician to treat anyone who needs it.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Hou, in his third day of combative questioning of Sabir, asked the doctor whether he supported those who believed they were protecting their homes by fighting U.S. soldiers.

"Morally, yes," Sabir answered.

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 Sabir again whether he agreed to treat people fighting Americans in Iraq, "so they can get right back in the fight?"

"Yes," Sabir said.

Sabir is accused of providing material support to terrorists by promising to treat injured al-Qaida fighters. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

As he had two days last week, Hou questioned Sabir about what he knew of al-Qaida and the group's efforts in places including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sabir said he knew "nothing about al-Qaida except that they are terrorists" and did not know the group was bombing U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Hou questioned Sabir extensively about his May 2005 pledge, or bayat, to FBI agent Ali Soufan, who was posing as an al-Qaida recruiter. Sabir made the pledge along with his close friend Tariq Shah, a martial arts expert and jazz musician.

Shah and two others, a Washington cab driver and a New York bookstore owner, have pleaded guilty in the case and face prison terms of 13 to 15 years.