Court Erred in Case of U.S. Talib Suspect

A court must reconsider its order allowing a U.S.-born suspected Taliban fighter to meet with his lawyers, because the judge did not adequately address the government’s position that the prisoner is an enemy combatant, an appeals court ruled Friday.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar’s ruling that Yasser Esam Hamdi could meet privately with attorneys from the federal public defender’s office.

Hamdi, 21, was captured in Afghanistan in November. He was held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until it was discovered that he was born in Louisiana to Saudi Arabian parents.

He was moved to Norfolk (Va.) Naval Base in April.