Attorneys for alleged enemy combatant in SC request hearing

By MEG KINNARD - Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. --

An enemy combatant being held at a Navy brig "cried tears of joy" recently when he was allowed to call his family in Saudi Arabia for the first time in five years, said his attorney, who has argued that his client's isolation affects his mental health.

Attorneys for Ali al-Marri on Tuesday appealed a judge's recommendation that al-Marri have no access to television news and be allowed only two telephone calls to his family a year.

"The findings and conclusions ... should be rejected," attorneys for al-Marri argued in federal court documents. "The evidence clearly shows that Mr. Almarri's mental health is deteriorating as a result of his prolonged isolation and other deprivations at the Brig."

The government has said that al-Marri had links to al-Qaida and was a national security threat. Al-Marri, 42, was arrested in 2001 and has been held in solitary detention at a Naval brig near Charleston for almost five years.

Prosecutors have argued that giving al-Marri unrestricted war-related news would allow the suspected al-Qaida associate "to learn of statements and plans of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders in their fight against the United States and its coalition partners." The government has also said that al-Marri will get one more phone call annually than other people held as enemy combatants, since he is being held in isolation.

A Department of Justice spokesman would not comment Wednesday.

Al-Marri's attorneys have claimed the isolation also has affected his ability to help in his defense and asked for a hearing to present their arguments. They are appealing a recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Robert S. Carr, who wrote last month that defense attorneys had not shown that the legal resident alien from Qatar would be permanently harmed without additional phone calls and news.

In Tuesday's court filing, al-Marri's attorneys said he was "elated" after speaking with his family last month, and "cried tears of joy and asked if he could have another call again soon."

This reaction "demonstrates the clear positive effect increased family communication would have on his mental health and well-being," the court filing said.

Lawyer Jonathan Hafetz, of the Brennan Center for Justice, on Wednesday criticized Carr's recommendations, calling them unnecessary and unfair.

"I think it's just a flat out incorrect decision," Hafetz said. "The government's position, it's not just unprincipled, it's inhumane and cruel. ... Even convicted criminals in the United states get to talk to their families more often than Mr. al-Marri."

Al-Marri's attorneys also have filed a companion lawsuit questioning the government's authority to hold al-Marri as an enemy combatant.

That case is pending before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.