U.S. Working to Free ‘Combatant’

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Thursday that he expected U.S. and Saudi authorities would be able to resolve differences that had delayed the release of a U.S. citizen captured in Afghanistan.

Yaser Esam Hamdi was allowed by U.S. officials Thursday to call his mother and father in Saudi Arabia for the first time, said his attorney, Frank Dunham Jr. Hamdi, still being held at a U.S. Navy brig in South Carolina, also was allowed to call Dunham for the first time, although the attorney declined to say what they discussed.

Dunham said he had not been told why there was a delay in the release. Hamdi, who is waiting for a flight to Saudi Arabia, was originally scheduled to be freed Tuesday; Dunham said he believed the earliest Hamdi could travel was Sunday.

U.S. officials said Thursday that there was a snag in discussions with Saudi authorities over the release of Hamdi, who has been detained since 2001 as an “enemy combatant.” Hamdi was born in the U.S. but grew up in Saudi Arabia.

Powell, speaking to reporters after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, said U.S. immigration and other officials were conferring with the Saudis. “I’m not in a position to explain the Saudi position to you right now,” Powell said. “But we’re working, and I think we’ll eventually work our way through it.”