US Government defends

Government defends holding al-Qaida suspect

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A lower court should be able to resolve a challenge to President Bush's authority to detain the only suspected enemy combatant held on U.S. soil, the federal government said in a brief filed Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Solicitor General Gregory Garre wrote that a challenge by Ali al-Marri of his enemy combatant designation can be resolved in federal court in South Carolina, where he is detained. Recently, former generals and U.S. Justice Department officials filed briefs on his behalf exhorting the high court to review Bush administration authority to continue holding the Qatar native as an enemy combatant.

Al-Marri, a legal U.S. resident, has been held in solitary confinement at a U.S. Navy brig near Charleston since 2003. He was living in Illinois when he was arrested by the FBI in December 2001 as a material witness to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.