Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri (Arabic: علي صالح كحلة المري ) (b. 1966–1967) is a citizen of Qatar who was sentenced to serve an 8-year sentence in a United States federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count in a plea bargain after his case was transferred in 2009 to the federal court system.
Al-Marri was a graduate student at Bradley University and a legal resident of the United States when arrested in December 2001 in Illinois by the federal government. Two years after his arrest, he was indicted on charges of credit card fraud, but in 2003, he was classified as an enemy combatant and transferred to military custody. He was detained for six years at the Naval Consolidated Brig at Charleston, South Carolina, in solitary confinement. He is the only non-citizen known to have been held as an enemy combatant within the continental United States since the September 11 attacks.
In Al-Marri v. Wright (2008), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that, as a legal resident arrested in the United States, he was entitled to contest his detention in federal court. It ruled that he needed to be charged and tried, or released. The Supreme Court agreed to certiorari.
After a change in administrations, in 2009, the government transferred al-Marri's case to the Department of Justice and the federal civilian court system, making it moot at the Supreme Court. In a plea agreement, al-Marri pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization on April 30, 2009.
Early life and education
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was born in Qatar in 1966 or 1967, as estimated by the United States government. He came to the United States to go to graduate school and was a legal resident. He attended Bradley University, a small private college in Peoria, Illinois.
Before coming to the United States, Al Marri is believed to have worked for nearly a decade as a "key person" in the audit department of Qatar Islamic Bank and then as a senior auditor for the government of Qatar.
Arrest
The Peoria Journal Star reports that al-Marri's initial arrest in December 2001 was at a routine traffic stop in Peoria, Illinois. He was held by federal authorities in civilian jails in Peoria and New York City as a material witness. FBI agent Ali Soufan's questioning of Mohammed al Qahtani led to the terrorism charges against al-Marri, as al Qahtani identified him as a relative.
In 2002, the government charged Al-Marri with making false statements to the FBI and to financial institutions, identity fraud, and credit card fraud. He was alleged to be in possession of more than 1750 credit card numbers, along with the names of the account holders, none of which were his. He was also alleged to be in possession of falsified identification documents. Additionally, he was alleged to have used a telephone card to call a number in Dubai linked to Mustafa al-Hawsawi, a reputed al-Qaeda financier.
After searching al-Marri's computer, federal agents found folders labeled "jihad arena" and "chem," which contained information on hydrogen cyanide. This is a poisonous gas produced in large quantities in the U.S. and is among chemical warfare agents that cause general poisoning. They also reportedly found lectures by Osama bin Laden and links to websites related to weaponry and satellite equipment.
After the Bush administration classified al-Marri as an "enemy combatant" in 2003, it dropped those federal charges and transferred him to military custody at Naval Consolidated Brig, in Charleston, South Carolina. He had been arrested while a legal resident of the United States.
Enemy combatant
Following the US Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush (2004), which said that detainees had the right to challenge their detention, Al-Marri was allowed access to legal counsel in October 2004. His lawyers reported that al-Marri has described being subjected to extreme cold, with insufficient bedding and clothing. He has been deprived of all reading material except a Qur'an. His guards reportedly decline to inform him of which direction is East, which he needs for prayers. His cell's window is translucent (rather than transparent), and he has no clock, so he cannot know the proper times to say prayers. He reports having been deprived of personal hygiene items. The lack of such items have caused him to be unable to pray, because of ritual impurity.
In October 2004, Al-Marri told his lawyer that he had not been interrogated for a year. His lawyer sought to challenge his detention by a writ of habeas corpus.