Ali al-Marri, a suspected agent of al-Qaeda who launched an appeal against his to-date five year military detention, has had it summarily rejected by the US Supreme Court. Having been in custody at Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston, in South Carolina since 2003, Mr. al-Marri is known as the last “enemy combatant” on US soil.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. al-Marri was a student at Bradley University in the US, and was initially taken into custody and charged with making false statements to the FBI and to financial institutions, identity fraud, and credit card fraud in 2002. The magnitude of the fraud led to further probing of the student’s computer and records, through which authorities claimed to uncover documents related to chemical warfare, in addition to phone records traceable to al-Qaeda financier Mustafa al-Hawsawi.

Following this, President Bush classified al-Marri as an “unlawful combatant” and one year later legal counsel was granted. Last Friday the dynamic of the situation shifted when President Barack Obama revised Mr. al-Marri’s charges to conspiracy and providing support to terrorists. The maximum sentence for the crimes is 30 years, and as such necessitated al-Marri’s transfer from military to civilian custody.

Mr. al-Marri is due to face trial in Peoria, Illinois, and is being accused by authorities of, amongst other things, having met with meeting with Osama Bin Laden and volunteering for a suicide mission.

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