American citizen captured in Iraq designated "enemy combatant"
Saturday, April 9, 2005 at 05:40PM
TheSpook
US
Department of Defense spokesmen have said that US forces in Iraq are
holding a man with joint US and Jordanian citizenship who is said to be
a senior operative for terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi. The
unidentified suspect, who is the first American known to be captured
fighting for the Iraq insurgency, is said to have been Zarqawi's
emissary to insurgent groups in several cities in Iraq and also worked
to coordinate the movement of insurgents and money into Iraq. He was
apparently captured late last year. He ha since been deemed an enemy
combatant and thus not entitled to prisoner-of-war status under the
Geneva Conventions. Despite a 2004 US Supreme Court ruling recognizing
that US citizen held as "enemy combatants" have the right to challenge
their detention through counsel, he has had no access to a lawyer and
has not been charged. It is unclear whether the suspect will be
prosecuted under Iraq's new legal system or whether he will be turned
over to the US Justice Department. American citizens previously
designated "enemy combatants" have included Yaser Hamdi, since deported
to Saudi Arabia, and Jose Padilla [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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