Court blocks transfer of US citizen held in Iraq

UNITED STATES: A federal judge yesterday blocked the US government from transferring an American citizen accused of fighting with Islamic State militants to Saudi Arabia, meaning he will stay for now in a US military detention facility in Iraq.

The Trump administration has been holding the unidentified citizen without charge since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield more than seven months ago.

The prisoner’s legal quandary has become a test case for how the government should treat US citizens picked up on the battlefield and accused of having ties to Isis extremists battling America and its allies.

The man, who once lived in Louisiana, is being detained as an enemy combatant.

Court documents filed by the government say that when he surrendered to US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, he was carrying thumb drives containing thousands of files. There were 10,000 or more photos – some depicting pages of military-style manuals. There were also files on how to make specific types of improvised explosive devices.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing the man, claims he was in Syria to chronicle the conflict and was trying to flee the violence when he gave himself up. The ACLU claims that the government has not provided any evidence that the man took up arms against the US, and has noted that he was imprisoned by Isis.

The man said he had press credentials to do freelance writing about the conflict in Syria, though the FBI has not found any published articles or blogs he wrote.

The government notified the court this week that it wanted to transfer him to a third country. It did not name the country, but a US official said the man was slated to be transferred to Saudi Arabia, where he has dual citizenship.

The ruling was a victory for the ACLU. Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney for the group, argued that any transfer would violate the prisoner’s constitutional and legal rights, because the government had not charged him or proved that it legally detained him in the first place. –AP