US courts orders release of American enemy combatant

Of course there will be absolutely no compensation for being held without charge for four years! Also, he will no doubt be re-arrested. It will be interesting to see if he is actually charged with anything on his being re-arrested. This decision will no doubt confirm Bush and his team that it was a good idea to send people to Guantanamo and not to the land of the free and home of the brave!

US court orders release of man held as 'enemy combatant'
An appeals court in the United States has ordered the release of the only person being held on US soil as an "enemy combatant".

The man, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, is an American citizen whom the Government says was part of an Al Qaeda sleeper cell.

He has been held for four years in a naval prison in South Carolina.

The court ruled he had the constitutional right to challenge his detention in a civilian court.

Mr Marri's lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz, says it is an important ruling.

"It certainly has some broader ramifications in affirming the importance of habeas corpus and the judicial review of a person's detention," he said.

"Also stressing that the President's power to detain people is not unlimited, as the Administration says, but it's constrained by the limitations of the rule of law."

- BBC