Al-Qaeda operative to face terrorism related charges

The Obama administration is planning to press terrorism-related charges against an alleged al-Qaeda operative, imprisoned for more than five years in a military brig, by shifting his case to the civilian criminal court.

The expected indictment against the prisoner, Ali Saleh Kahlah aol-Marri would eliminate the possibility of a trial before a military tribunal, a media report said on Friday, citing government officials.

The case signifies an important shift from the detainees policy followed by Bush administration that had long asserted Al-Marri should be tried before a military tribunal and was not entitled to the protections afforded by federal courts, the New York Times said.

The decision to move him to a civilian court allows the Obama administration to sidestep the issue for now, the paper said, adding the US Justice Department faced a March 23 deadline to file a brief with the Supreme Court saying whether it was continuing to hold to the Bush administration's position that the government had the authority to detain a legal resident indefinitely without charge.

Al Marri, who is being held in a military brig in South Carolina, is the only person designated as an enemy combatant to be held in the continental United States. He was arrested in Peoria, Illinois, in December 2001 and charged with credit card fraud and related offences. A citizen of Qatar, he was living legally in the United States.

In a trial in a civilian court, al Marri would have many more legal options to challenge evidence against him than he would have before a military tribunal, the Times noted.

Justice Department officials, the paper said, declined to discuss the developments. But after taking office, president Obama ordered a review of the al-Marri case and the decision to charge him in federal court reflected the results of  that review, officials were quoted as saying.

The decision also means that the Justice Department considers that someone like Al-Marri could be successfully prosecuted in a civilian criminal court, the paper said, adding that Bush administration officials had argued that it was impracticable to do so.

That question is at the heart of the debate about what to do with many of the 245 prisoners who are at the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

If the government charges al-Marri, the paper noted, lawyers would be expected to argue to the Supreme Court that the case is moot, giving the department time to consider what to do with the Guantánamo detainees.

Separately, attorney general Eric S Holder Jr said on Thursday, that legal teams will reassess each of the inmates at Guantánamo to decide whether they should be prosecuted for criminal offenses or released.