Sources: Feds moving enemy combatant to Ill. court

[Terri]

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press
February 27, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An accused al-Qaida sleeper agent held for 5-1/2 years at a Navy brig in South Carolina will soon be sent to Illinois for trial in civilian court, a move the government has fought for years saying terror suspects caught in the U.S. could be held indefinitely without charges.

Two people familiar with the case of Qatar native Ali al-Marri said Thursday the government plans to transfer him to the civilian court system. One of them said he would be charged with providing support to terrorists. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because it's a pending criminal case.

The transfer could avert a Supreme Court hearing in April and a subsequent ruling that would govern other cases against accused terrorists. Al-Marri's transfer is the first signal of how the Obama administration is likely to handle accused terrorists, a significant shift from the strategy of the Bush administration.

More (http://www.gopusa.com/news/2009/february/0227_feds_combatant1 .shtml)

[Cynical Pete]

A trial may be the best so as to have these murdering terrorists executed immedaitely instead of languishing in a healthy prison site. They should have been executed long ago.

[Love my Texas]

The new administration is facing a March deadline to file papers in the al-Marri case before the court, and transferring him to a criminal courtroom may enable the administration to avoid taking a clear position on enemy combatants.


The terminology continues to change in this country. Enemy combatants are not 'terrorists' any longer and immigrants are not 'illegal aliens'.

I think it is really funny that he will be transferred to a criminal courtroom, and especially in Illinois, where the esteemed O came from, which is the most corrupt state in the Union.
If they are going to try him as an enemy combatant, they should also try him for 'TREASON' since he was a legal citizen of the United States.