U.S. expected to charge suspected al Qaeda agent

By James Vicini and Jane Sutton

WASHINGTON/MIAMI (Reuters) - Criminal charges are expected to be announced soon against Ali al-Marri, a suspected al Qaeda "sleeper" agent who has been held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, sources involved in or familiar with the case said on Thursday.

One source, who asked not to be identified, said a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois, was expected to return criminal charges against Marri, a Qatari national, as early as Thursday.

Another source said the charges, brought in the U.S. court system, could come later on Thursday, but they were not expected to be announced until Friday.

Marri is the last of three terrorism suspects held in the United States without charges as an "enemy combatant." He has a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging his indefinite imprisonment with charges or trial.

In one of his first acts after taking office last month, President Barack Obama ordered U.S. government lawyers to review Marri's case. It came the same day Obama ordered the closing within a year of the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which holds 245 terrorism suspects.

A Justice Department spokesman declined comment on whether prosecutors would bring criminal charges against Marri.

LAWYER WANTS SUPREME COURT INVOLVED

Jonathan Hafetz of the American Civil Liberties Union, the lead attorney representing Marri, said, "If this is in fact true, this is something that should have happened seven years ago."

"In the United States it is illegal to detain people indefinitely without charge," Hafetz said. "It is the right step but it is imperative that the Supreme Court review the case and make clear that this is illegal so it never happens again."

Marri entered the United States on September 10, 2001, and was said by a captured al Qaeda member to have come to help operatives plotting a second wave of attacks.

A legal U.S. resident, Marri was initially detained in December 2001 in the investigation of the September 11 attacks.

He was later indicted in Illinois, where he had attended school, for credit card fraud, making false statements to the FBI and other charges. Marri pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. government dropped the criminal charges in June 2003, when then-President George W. Bush designated Marri an enemy combatant and he was taken to the brig in Charleston.

Only two others have been held as enemy combatants inside the United States since the attacks on September 11 in 2001.

In January 2006, Jose Padilla, held for three years at the same brig in Charleston, had his case transferred to a criminal court in Miami, where he was later convicted on charges of offering his services to terrorists.