Hamdi looking forward to release
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Enemy combatant Yaser Hamdi spoke with his father and said that he is looking forward to his release, his father told CNN Friday.
In a telephone interview with CNN, Hamdi's father, Esam, said his son was "upbeat" when they talked Thursday and was "coming home soon."
His son remains in the United States after a September 30 deadline for his release lapsed Thursday.
Hamdi is still in U.S. military custody, and it is not clear when he will be flown back to his native Saudi Arabia.
The agreement reached between Hamdi and the U.S. government called for his departure by Sept. 30. but the departure was delayed while U.S. and Saudi officials continued to negotiate about his release.
A senior State Department official told CNN Thursday, "the Saudis have concerns about what's expected of them."
A Saudi Embassy spokesman told CNN on Wednesday his government felt it was being asked to enforce the agreement, which it did not want to do, and objected to the requirement that Hamdi not leave Saudi Arabia for five years.
Hamdi's attorney, Frank Dunham, told CNN, "This is an honor code system for Hamdi. I mean, it's up to him [to be] on his honor, Scout's honor so to speak, to do the things that he's agreed to do. I believe from the U.S. government end it would be very difficult to enforce the agreement."
A Saudi official in Riyadh told CNN the usual way for his government to stop its citizens from leaving the country is to take away that person's passport and it would do so only if there were a legal reason. With Hamdi, Saudi officials have said they have been presented with no evidence he has done anything wrong.
While the talks between U.S. and Saudi officials continued, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he would not describe the delay in Hamdi's departure as a snag.
"At this point we are waiting for the final approval from the Saudi government. We will keep in touch with them," Boucher said Thursday. "We think this can be worked out."
Although Hamdi is being held in a military brig in Charleston, South Carolina, his attorney said the military has relaxed some of the conditions under which Hamdi is being held, including allowing him to wear civilian clothes and loosening security. He also said Hamdi is being allowed to leave his cell under guard.
Hamdi, 24, was born in Louisiana, but his family moved back to Saudi Arabia when he was a child. He was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was turned over to U.S. forces by the Northern Alliance. He was eventually transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Once there, officials determined he was a U.S. citizen and he was then brought to the United States.
The agreement for Hamdi to leave U.S. custody also called for him to renounce his U.S. citizenship, to never travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip and for 15 years to report any intent to travel outside Saudi
