US court rules out indefinite detention
Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:30A US Federal appeals court has ruled that a man suspected of being an al-Qaeda agent cannot be held indefinitely without charge.
The decision is a blow to the Bush administration's policy of military detention for terrorism suspects.
Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, was arrested in the US in December 2001. He was legally in the US on a student visa at the time.
Originally held for credit card fraud, he was moved to a navy prison in South Carolina in 2003 and accused of being an al-Qaeda 'sleeper cell agent'.
The presiding judge in yesterday's ruling from the US Court of Appeal said that while Mr Marri may be guilty of serious crimes, the government could not circumvent the legal system through military detention.
Judge Diana Motz also said that to 'sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians . would have disastrous consequences for the constitution - and the country'.
The ruling is being appealed.
It is the second legal setback for the Bush administration's policy on dealing with terrorism suspects.
Last week military judges in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba dismissed the charges in the trials of two detainees held there.
