Afghanistan battle captive freed

Mr Hamdi was born in the US and brought up in Saudi Arabia

A US citizen held prisoner since his capture by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001 is due to be sent to Saudi Arabia as part of a deal securing his release.

The Justice Department agreed to free Yaser Esam Hamdi on the condition that he gives up his US citizenship.

Mr Hamdi, who is of Saudi descent, was allegedly captured while fighting US forces alongside the Taleban militia.

The Supreme Court ruled in July that Mr Hamdi had a right to challenge his detention without trial in a US court.

Designated an "enemy combatant" by the Bush administration, Mr Hamdi was never charged with an offence and has spent more than two years in prisons run by the US military.

He was initially shipped to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but was transferred to jails in Virginia and South Carolina after it became known that he was a US citizen.

The judge who delivered the Supreme Court ruling enabling him to challenge his detention said a state of war was "not a blank cheque for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens".

'Enemy combatant'

The US government had signed an agreement for Mr Hamdi's release with his lawyer, the Justice Department said.

As well as stripping him of his citizenship, the deal bars Mr Hamdi from visiting Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

He will also be required to notify Saudi officials if he ever plans to leave the country.

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the US "has no interest in detaining enemy combatants beyond the point that they pose a threat to the US and our allies".

Saudi Arabian officials say Mr Hamdi does not face any charges in the kingdom, according to the Associated Press news agency.

US authorities are holding at least one other US citizen without trial as an "enemy combatant" - the former Chicago gang member Jose Padilla, accused of planning terror attacks using radioactive materials.