Court to rule if federal agents can arrest suspects abroad
Gina Holland, Associated Press
Published December 2, 2003 SCOT02
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether people working for the U.S. government can covertly arrest suspects in other countries, a case the Bush administration said is a key test of U.S. terror-fighting powers.
The justices will review a lower court decision critical of such law enforcement actions. In appealing that ruling, the administration said kidnappings of suspects in uncooperative countries are very rare but sometimes needed to ensure justice and protect national security.
Solicitor General Theodore Olson said that if the decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was allowed to stand, it would jeopardize U.S. efforts "to apprehend individuals who may be abroad, plotting other illegal attacks" in the United States.
For example, he said, federal agents could not bring Osama bin Laden to the United States from his presumed hideout near the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier to face charges in the Sept. 11 attacks.
more..................
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4243127.html