Detainee in Afghanistan to face charges in U.S. court, officials say

The White House National Security Council announced late Thursday that it was transferring a terrorism detainee from Afghanistan into U.S. law enforcement custody to face federal charges in this country in a civilian court.

Administration officials said they were prevented by law from naming the detainee, noting that no criminal charges had been publicly released. But sources described him as a Russian caught five years ago fighting alongside insurgents in Afghanistan. He was wounded after allegedly leading attacks against U.S. troops.

Bernadette Meehan, an NSC spokeswoman, said the man was being held at a Parwan detention facility in Afghanistan and now “will be transferred to law enforcement custody and will be brought to the United States for trial.”

Meehan said that the Afghan government on Feb. 1 “will be responsible for all detention facilities” there. “Therefore,” she said, “the president’s national security team examined this matter and unanimously agreed that prosecution of this detainee in federal court was the best disposition option.”

She added that since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government has convicted “hundreds of individuals charged with terrorism-related offenses” in the federal court system.

“The system has repeatedly proven that it has the flexibility to successfully handle all variations of the threat that we continue to face,” she said.

Congress has passed legislation barring detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from being transferred to the U.S. for prosecution. But there is no ban against sending prisoners from abroad directly to the U.S. for prosecution.

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