Qatari man once imprisoned in US as an enemy combatant over support to al-Qaida returns home

Published December 04, 2015

FILE - This March 10, 2009, file image of a courtroom drawing from U.S. District Court shows alleged al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali al-Marri as he made an initial appearance with his attorney Andy Savage in Charleston, S.C. to face terror charges for the first time after being held for more than five years as an enemy combatant. Nephew Saleh Garallah Kahlah al-Marri said Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, that Ali al-Marri, a Qatari man declared an enemy combatant by the U.S. and imprisoned for years over terrorist links, returned home to the Gulf nation Saturday night. (AP Photo/Richard Miller, File) (The Associated Press)

A Qatari man declared an enemy combatant by the United States and imprisoned for years over terrorist links has returned home to the Gulf nation.

Nephew Saleh Garallah Kahlah al-Marri said Sunday that Ali al-Marri returned home Saturday night in high spirits, and was greeted by Qatari government representatives.

Ali al-Marri was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2009 after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. He admitted having links to al-Qaida but no evidence showed he had a specific mission in the U.S.

He received the relatively light sentence because of what the judge at the time called "unacceptable" treatment in a U.S. Navy brig during nearly six years he was held without charge as an enemy combatant.

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