U.S. Defends Detention of American-Born Combatant

[Khephra]

U.S. Defends Detention of American-Born Combatant
Wed December 3, 2003 07:20 PM ET

By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration lawyer urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject an appeal challenging the legality of the U.S. military's detention of an American-born man captured in Afghanistan in 2001.

Solicitor General Theodore Olson defended the government's detention the day after the Defense Department said Yaser Esam Hamdi, 22, who is being held in a Navy jail in Charleston, South Carolina, will finally be given access to a lawyer.

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Olson, the administration's chief advocate before the high court, said Hamdi's detention was "consistent with this court's precedents recognizing the president's authority to capture and detain combatants in wartime."

He said the appeals court ruling was correct and did not warrant further review, adding: "It recognized the time-honored military practice of detaining captured combatants in wartime."

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3934387