By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Palestinian man threatened US President George W. Bush while receiving mental-health care, according to an indictment on Friday that raised questions about how to treat such comments by mental patients.
Federal grand jurors indicted Arafat Nijmeh on two felony counts of "knowingly and willfully" threatening to harm Bush first by telling two workers at his treatment center that he wanted to castrate Bush, then a day later to Secret Service agents notified by the center.
The indictment issued March 23 and made public this week says Nijmeh told the agents that his threat "is not too harsh, considering what he has done to my country. If not that, then maybe something else, you know?"
Nijmeh, 26, later said he was joking. He remained in custody Friday pending a bail hearing Monday.