Transfer of Detainee to Control of the Attorney General

 THE WHITE HOUSE

 Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                           February 27, 2009

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

SUBJECT:  Transfer of Detainee to Control of the Attorney General

Based on the information available to me, including the memorandum from the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General dated February 26, 2009, and the joint recommendation contained therein, I hereby determine that it is in the interest of the United States that Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri be released from detention by the Secretary of Defense and transferred to the control of the Attorney General for the purpose of criminal proceedings against him.

Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, I hereby direct you to transfer Mr. al-Marri to the control of the Attorney General upon the Attorney General's request.  This memorandum supersedes the Presidential directive of June 23, 2003, to the Secretary of Defense, which ordered the detention of Mr. al-Marri as an enemy combatant.  Upon Mr. al-Marri's transfer to the control of the Attorney General, the authority to detain Mr. al-Marri provided to the Secretary of Defense in the June 23, 2003, order shall cease.

      BARACK OBAMA

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