Court: al-Qaeda Suspect Can Challenge Detention

Ruling finds president can legally order detention, but detainee free to challenge status
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2008 5:53 AM CDT
Court: al-Qaeda Suspect Can Challenge Detention
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, former graduate student at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, is photographed in this booking photo at Peoria County Sheriff's Office May 20, 2003 in Illinois   (Getty Images)

The president has the right to order the detention of enemy combatants, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday—but detainees can challenge that status. The Virginia-based court was hearing the case of an al-Qaeda suspect who's been in a Navy brig for 5 years without trial, Reuters reports, making him the only foreign national currently detained on US soil as an enemy combatant.

A panel last year ruled that the military had no right to hold the Qatari man. His detention has now been deemed legal again, and the case will be transferred to a lower court to decide his status. "In these uncertain times, we must tread carefully when balancing our need for national security with our rights as individuals," the prevailing opinion said. (More enemy combatants stories.)

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