WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., Wednesday ended a public defender's attempt to represent a captured enemy combatant.
Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen captured in Afghanistan while fighting for the Taliban last year, has been declared an "enemy combatant" by President George W. Bush.
The administration contends that enemy combatants are not entitled to lawyers or access to the U.S. courts.
Wednesday, the federal appeals court said the public defender and a private citizen who tried to represent Hamdi as "next friend" -- someone who could act for him in a U.S. court -- could not show a significant enough relationship with him.
That appeared to still leave unresolved whether detainees such as Hamdi can be represented by a lawyer.
Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a statement Wednesday afternoon applauding the ruling.
"Preserving the president's authority is crucial to protect our nation from the unprincipled, unconventional, and savage enemy we face," Ashcroft said in part. "Detention of enemy combatants prevents them from rejoining the enemy and continuing to fight against America and its allies, and has long been upheld by our nation's courts, regardless of the citizenship of the enemy combatant."
U.S. forces entered Afghanistan after the al Qaida terror organization harbored there launched the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which killed 3,000 people in the United States.
The U.S. military, along with an Afghan coalition, toppled the Taliban regime.
Hamdi was among hundreds of enemy fighters taken for questioning to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Though Hamdi is of Saudi background, it was discovered that he was born in Louisiana while his parents were in the United States, and was therefore a U.S. citizen.
Hamdi was then transferred to the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., and detained without trial or attorney representation.
A federal judge ruled that the U.S. public defender for the Eastern District of Virginia could represent Hamdi as "next friend," and meet with him as an attorney.
However, the appeals court said neither the public defender, nor the private citizen from New Jersey who sought to represent his interests, could show a significant enough relationship with the detainee.
The appeals court reversed the judge and sent the case back down to be "dismissed for want of jurisdiction."
