Yaser Esam Hamdi is expected to be flown home to Saudi Arabia via U.S. military aircraft today, "wearing civilian clothes and unhooded," as part of an unusual agreement ending his nearly three years of being held incommunicado and without charges by the federal government. Hamdi, a 24-year-old accidentally born in native of Louisiana, has been in U.S. custody since late 2001 after forces of the Northern Alliance captured him in the Afghanistan war zone. The U.S. accused Hamdi of fighting for the Taliban and held him in isolation, denying him access to the courts or to legal counsel. The Bush administration argued that Hamdi could be held that way indefinitely as an "enemy combatant" in a continuing war on terror.
But in July, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted an argument by Hamdi's lawyer, federal public defender Frank W. Dunham Jr., that Hamdi had the right to contest his detention. After Dunham finally met with his client, the Justice Department began negotiating to send Hamdi home. The text of the agreement, filed in federal court on Friday, gives some idea of why the negotiations took weeks. The government maintains in the agreement that "Hamdi was affiliated with a military unit and is an enemy combatant," while Hamdi denies having been involved with either the Taliban or al-Qaida. Hamdi agreed to renounce any claim to U.S. citizenship after his return to Saudi Arabia, where he has lived most of his life. He agreed to stay clear of terrorist activities, and to accept travel restrictions. The agreement says Hamdi "hereby renounces terrorism and violent jihad."
| Wanna bet he had his fingers crossed? |
| Doesn't have to, everyone knows it's ok to lie to infidels |
Hamdi secured the government's agreement to fly him straight to Saudi Arabia "without unreasonable delay in route and without travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba" where Hamdi was detained before his transfer to Navy brigs in Norfolk and then Charleston.| Wonder how long until he's bagged in Waziristan? |
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