From correspondents in Washington | March 19
A US federal judge has refused to release on bail alleged al-Qaeda sleeper agent Ali al-Marri, the last "enemy combatant" held on US soil.
Judge Robert Carr of South Carolina federal court ruled Mr Marri was a danger to the community and was a flight risk, according to a copy of the detention order.
"There are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the defendant's appearance as required and the safety of the community," said Judge Carr.
The judge cited government claims that Mr Marri, 43, trained in al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and entered the United States on September 10, 2001 on a fraudulently obtained student visa.
Mr Marri "maintained communications with (alleged 9/11 mastermind) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, researched the use of toxins, and positioned himself as an al-Qaeda sleeper agent in the US," said Judge Carr.
"Considering the charges, the weight of the evidence is significant and nothing has been presented in any hearing before the court to rebut the facts with regard to the detention of the defendant as an enemy combatant or with regard to the allegations of terrorist activities."
Mr Marri will now wait until Monday for his arraignment before a federal court in Illinois.
The dual Qatari-Saudi national was arrested in Illinois in late 2001, and has been held in isolation at the US Navy Consolidated Brig in Charleston since 2003, when president George W Bush declared him an "enemy combatant".
On February 26 he was charged in a federal court with providing support to al-Qaeda and was transferred from military to federal custody, ending Mr Marri's status as an "enemy combatant".
The Supreme Court agreed in December to consider a petition by Mr Marri's lawyers challenging Mr Bush's authority to indefinitely hold US residents and citizens without charge or trial.
But President Barack Obama's administration earlier this month successfully sought to block the challenge, urging in papers filed before the high court that the case be dismissed because Mr Marri had now been charged in the federal system.
Posts
