[lucajona]

You're right, I think we should believe him when he says that he was tortured. It's the part where he claims that it was at the direction of the FBI that needs proof.

And I agree, I don't think the UAE cares about Portland. They might care that US security services had taken an interest in this individual though. Are you saying that the UAE security services are totally subordinate to the US and just act as puppets when it comes to US citizens? I would have thought they'd have a bit more independence than that, even if they do cooperate at some level.

[nindalf]

If it was a German person making this claim against the FBI, I would be as sceptical as you are. However, this is a US Citizen who was held without charge and tortured. My only claim, and its a reasonable one, is that this sort of thing can only be done with the tacit approval of the State Department or the FBI.

It is possible that they took an interest in him out of the blue, but he had done nothing suspicious in UAE to warrant such brutality. Suppose he had done something suspicious in Dubai, does it seem likely that any client regime would do this to a US Citizen to ask them "who was the bearded man you met with last Thursday?" The story that he was asked about the mosque in Portland is much more plausible.

Sadly, the US exercises enormous influence on small regimes like the one in UAE.

[briandear]

"this is a US Citizen who was ALLEGEDLY held without charge and tortured"

There, fixed that for you.