Obama requests review for Macomb resident, enemy combatant
1/30/2009

By NATHAN WOODSIDE

Eagle Managing Editor

A former Macomb resident, held as an al-Qaida sleeper agent, could soon be given a trial or sent home after President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Justice Department to review his case.

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri has been held in solitary confinement for over five years as an enemy combatant in South Carolina's Hanahan Naval Brig. The government said al-Marri had ties to the 9-11 terrorist attacks, prompting former President George W. Bush to order al-Marri imprisoned without formal charges.

Obama requested the review to determine whether or not al-Marri has the right to sue the government for his freedom. His case is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 but the review could put a stay on that proceeding.

Al-Marri, a Qatar nationalist, worked as a computer science instructor at Spoon River College, Macomb, in the late 1980's.

In the 1990's, he ran a fraudulent business, AAA Carpet, while living in the Time Out motel on North Lafayette Street.

Reports show al-Marri flew to New York from Peoria just prior to Sept. 11.

After the terror attacks, al-Marri attempted to enroll in WIU's English program but was turned away when he refused to sign his name.

University advisors also reported other strange patterns in his behavior.

Al-Marri was originally arrested on credit fraud charges after he set up fake bank accounts in Macomb, Peoria and Manhattan, NY. While awaiting trial for those charges, he was detained as an enemy combatant.

The handling of Al-Marri's case could define the rights of those classified as enemy combatants.

In 2007, a South Carolina appellate court ruled al-Marri must either be charged, declared a material witness or freed. The Bush administration snuffed the court's findings and al-Marri remained jailed without being

charged.

Last summer an appellate court ruled the government could hold al-Marri but he had the right to challenge his imprisonment.

"That ruling transgresses black-letter principles of statutory construction, flouts Congress's intent, and raises grave constitutional questions unnecessarily," al-Marri's attorney wrote. "It deviates dangerously from this nation's most cherished constitutional principles and traditions. It must be reversed."

Obama has described al-Marri as a "dangerous individual."