Judge Urged Not to Free Man Held as Combatant

Federal prosecutors are urging an Illinois judge to deny requests to free Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri from indefinite military custody in South Carolina, saying the 37-year-old native of Qatar, declared an “enemy combatant,” is “being held consistent with the laws and customs of war.”

The authorities also maintain in a legal brief filed this week that the federal court in Peoria, Ill., lacks jurisdiction in the case now that Al-Marri has been transferred to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, and that no relative or close friend has signed his petition for release, as prescribed by law.

Al-Marri, a father of five who entered the United States the day before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was about to go on trial on fraud and false statement charges in Peoria when the Bush administration dismissed the case and declared him an enemy combatant in the U.S. war on terrorism.

Under that declaration he joined two other detainees -- U.S. citizens Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi -- who are under military custody in this country and are being kept away from their families, their lawyers and the U.S. court system.

A crucial federal court hearing in the Al-Marri matter is scheduled July 28 in Peoria, and the outcome could set a precedent for how far Washington could go in detaining individuals in its attempt to protect against terrorist attacks in this country.

Al-Marri’s lawyers are asking that he be released immediately, saying the transfer to military custody was retaliation for their client’s refusal to plead guilty to the fraud charges and unwillingness to cooperate with authorities about other possible terrorist activities.

But prosecutors, in their brief filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Peoria, countered that the defense request should be transferred to a judge in South Carolina or dismissed.

The prosecutors also maintained that as long as the war on terrorism continues, President Bush has the authority to identify certain suspected terrorists as enemy combatants to “deter and prevent acts of international terrorism” from spreading around the United States.

“While the military campaign is ongoing, the Al Qaeda network and those who support it remain a serious threat, as does the risk of future terrorist attacks on United States citizens,” prosecutors said.

Officials have characterized Al-Marri as a “sleeper cell operative” who came to this country with his family under the guise of being a family man wishing to attend college in Illinois, but who was placed here to help foreign terrorists settle in the U.S.

They have said that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda’s operations chief now in U.S. custody, has identified Al-Marri as an Al Qaeda facilitator, and investigators also allegedly discovered anti-American materials in Al-Marri’s computer laptop at home.

With that kind of evidence in mind, prosecutors said, “Al-Marri is currently being held consistent with the laws and customs of war, in the control of the military as an enemy combatant in this ongoing armed conflict.”