A Saudi man who is accused of kidnapping, torturing and sodomizing a man on the Upper West Side earlier this year has rejected a plea deal that would have given him 10 years in prison. Naief Al-mateiry, 26, was arrested on Feb. 17, a day after he allegedly kidnapped an unidentified man and held him hostage at the victim's apartment. According to court documents, "Al-mateiry punched his victim in the face and chest before grabbing a metal hanger and wounding the man in the eye and neck. Al-mateiry allegedly then sodomized the battered man several times before grabbing a knife and leading him to two ATMs." more ›

Thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents compiled by lawyers for 9/11 victims' families probably won't be admissible in court. But they were passed along to the NY Times, which reports that they show Saudi "support for terrorist organizations" at least through 2006. Some documents, obtained from the Treasury Department through the Freedom of Information Act, include sworn statements from various witnesses detailing the transfer of millions of dollars from prominent Saudi charities to Al Qaeda and other extremist groups. At least one charity is controlled by members of the royal family, and another witness said in a sworn statement that he witnessed an emissary for a leading Saudi prince, Turki al-Faisal, hand a check for one billion Saudi riyals (now worth about $267 million) to a top Taliban leader in '98. The Justice Department, which recently urged the Supreme Court not to hear a lawsuit brought by families against the Saudi royal family, is now fighting to keep other leaked classified documents from surfacing in court. more ›