'Enemy combatant' release likely soon
From Kelli Arena and Carol Cratty
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Yaser Esam Hamdi, a government-declared "enemy combatant," is expected to be released soon from a military brig in South Carolina, Bush administration officials said Wednesday.
Some sources said the release could come this week.
Hamdi has been in U.S. military custody since his arrest on the battlefield in Afghanistan in November 2001.
Hamdi's public defender, Frank Dunham, said Hamdi signed a release agreement Wednesday in South Carolina, but the government still has to sign off on the deal.
He described Hamdi as "elated about the prospect of getting out of here soon."
The deal would allow Hamdi to fly home to Saudi Arabia as a free man.
Hamdi, who is 24, was originally held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When it was discovered he was born in Louisiana, he was transferred to the United States.
He has been in custody for nearly three years and while in the United States has been held in solitary confinement.
In December, the Pentagon announced that military investigators had finished their interrogation of Hamdi. No charges were filed.
Six months later, the U.S. Supreme court ordered that Hamdi be allowed to consult with a lawyer and legally challenge his detention.
The agreement to free Hamdi represents a major reversal for the Bush administration.
According to sources, under the agreement, which is expected to be made public soon, Hamdi would fly to Saudi Arabia on a military jet and be set free.
Officials said he is expected to relinquish his U.S. citizenship and certain travel restrictions will be placed on him. Most notably, he would not be allowed to return to the United States. He would also be restricted from travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza, and he would be required to tell Saudi officials if he intended to leave that country.
