WASHINGTON -- U.S. authorities Friday unsealed an indictment against alleged al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali al Marri, moving him into the civilian court system as the Obama administration considers a new strategy for handling terror suspects.

Marri, a 33-year-old Qatar native, has been held in a Navy brig for more than 5 years since former President George W. Bush declared him an enemy combatant.

He will now be transferred from South Carolina to Illinois Peoria, Illinois, to face trial in a civilian court on a charge of providing material support to al Qaeda and a related conspiracy count. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years each.

His lawyer Jonathan Hafetz called the indictment ''an important step toward restoring the rule of law,'' and said he was glad his client's guilt or innocence will now be decided in a courtroom.

For a case that has taken years to develop, the indictment itself is stunningly brief: barely two pages, offering none of the specifics often contained in such papers to back up criminal charges.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said prosecutors ``will introduce our evidence at trial and intend to prove our case there.''

Marri is the lone captive classified as an ''enemy combatant'' being held on American soil. Some 220 others are in the prison camps at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the U.S. is said to be considering similar prosecutions of some of the foreign men held there too.

Marri already has a case before the Supreme Court challenging the president's authority to arrest terror suspects in the United States and hold them indefinitely without charges.

Now that he has been indicted, Justice Department officials said they would ask to have the Supreme Court case dismissed.

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.

Since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, government lawyers argued that the president has the wartime authority to send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen -- or legal resident like Marri -- and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

With Marri's indictment, President Barack Obama ordered the military to turn Marri over to the Justice Department, when requested by Attorney General Eric Holder. It was not immediately clear when that handover would take place, but officials said it would not happen until the Supreme Court rules on the government's motion to dismiss Marri's legal challenge.

Holder said in a statement the charges show the government's ``resolve to protect the American people and prosecute alleged terrorists.''

The attorney general said the Obama administration ``will hold accountable anyone who attempts to do harm to Americans, and we will do so in a manner consistent with our values.''

The government has said Marri is an al Qaeda sleeper agent who has met Osama bin Laden and spent time at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

A legal U.S. resident when he was arrested, al-Marri has been held in solitary confinement at the prison since 2003.

Marri was arrested in late 2001 as part of the FBI's investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Prosecutors at first indicted him on charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI, not terror charges.

In June 2003, Bush said Marri had vital information about terror plots, declared him an enemy combatant and ordered him transferred to military custody.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@