Qatari declared ‘enemy combatant’ by US released

Ali bin Al Marri had been serving a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organisation.

DOHA // A Qatari detained in the United States since 2001, part of the time as an “enemy combatant”, has been released and returned to Doha on Saturday.

Ali bin Kahlah Al Marri was in good health and was welcomed at Hamad International Airport by family and friends, said his nephew Saleh Kahla.

Al Marri, who is a US resident, had been serving a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organisation.

Prior to that he had been held by the authorities for eight years, initially on credit card fraud charges, but then in solitary confinement for six years after being declared an “enemy combatant” and put in military custody.

Enemy combatant is the term used by the George W Bush administration to refer to alleged members of Al Qaeda.

Details on where Al Marri was held and the terms under which he was released were not immediately available.

“Thank God his health and spirits are very excellent, his spirits were better than ours as we did not expect him to be in such good state,” said Mr Kahla.

Al Marri, who is married and has five children, had originally gone to the United States to study.

* Agence France-Presse