The Somali man accused of plotting to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio is apparently trying to set up an “Abu Ghraib” defense: Suspect in Mall Plot Sent for Evaluation.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Somali man charged with plotting to blow up a shopping mall has been ordered to undergo psychiatric testing after a court hearing in which he displayed such bizarre behavior that a friend said he is “just the shell of a man.”

In the courtroom, Nuradin Abdi pressed his face onto a glass-covered tabletop, jerked his head randomly and muttered as his attorney successfully sought the evaluation before trial begins. …

Magistrate Mark Abel found that Abdi’s behavior in jail and his attorney’s difficulties communicating with him made an evaluation necessary since he might not understand the charges against him and might not be able to help defend himself. Authorities have accused Abdi, 32, of plotting the attack on an undetermined mall with admitted al-Qaida member Iyman Faris, who is now imprisoned for plans to sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge.

After being helped to a chair, Abdi slammed his face to the glass-covered table and kept it there for a few minutes. During the proceedings, he looked around, smiled at no one in particular, and put his head back on the table. Abdi also kicked the table, jangled his wrist and ankle shackles and kept pushing his chair back from the table. Toward the end of the hearing, he started muttering.

His family is in on it, harping to the press on how much he’s changed:

Many of Abdi’s supporters who attended Wednesday’s hearing said they were disturbed to see his shuffling gait and distracted behavior. Abdi has been held in federal detention since his arrest in November.

“It was like a different person,” said his 17-year-old brother, Mohamed AbdiKarani, who said Abdi is innocent. “He looked at me; he didn’t know who I was.”

His lawyer hints darkly at abuse:

“The government took a healthy man, and what we have here is a broken man, mentally,” said his lawyer, Mahir Sherif. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Peters said he did not object to the evaluation but added, “We have no evidence of any abuse of Mr. Abdi.”

And CAIR is also sniffing around, trying to figure out if the time is right to start screaming torture!

Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Abdi was his friend [I’m shocked! Shocked! —ed.], and always quick to volunteer to help new Somali immigrants find translators, jobs and housing.

“Just seeing Nuradin in court was an emotional experience,” Humeidan said. “This wasn’t the Nuradin that we know. This was just the shell of a man.”

UPDATE: Please note the following instructions from an Al Qaeda jihad manual discovered in a raid in Manchester, England. (Hat tip: Ann.)

Lesson Eighteen
PRISONS AND DETENTION CENTERS

IF AN INDICTMENT IS ISSUED AND THE TRIAL, BEGINS, THE BROTHER HAS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING:

1 . At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security [investigators ]before the judge.

2. Complain [to the court] of mistreatment while in prison.

3. Make arrangements for the brother ‘s defense with the attorney, whether he was retained by the brother ‘s family or court-appointed.

4. The brother has to do his best to know the names of the state security officers, who participated in his torture and mention their names to the judge.[These names may be obtained from brothers who had to deal with those officers in previous cases.]