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CNN Live Today

Second American Taliban Returns to United States

Aired April 05, 2002 - 13:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The man who's being referred to as the second Taliban American is back in the United States, although at this very second, his plane is taxiing down the runway at Dulles International Airport en route for its final destination at Norfolk.

But a little background here. Yasser Esam Hamdi is being moved from Camp X-Ray in Cuba to a Navy station in Virginia. And CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us now with a live report from Norfolk -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the C-130 transport which carried Yasser Esam Hamdi from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Dulles Airport outside of Washington arrived there just about an hour ago. There was some activity on the tarmac after the plane landed. The doors opened, a half dozen or so people got out of the aircraft. There was heavy security. It's unclear to what -- exactly what was happening. But we still are expecting him here in Norfolk later this afternoon.

Hamdi, age 22, was picked up after that bloody prison uprising at Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan. And he's been held since then at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay. But when a birth certificate was found, which seemed to substantiate his claims that he was born to Saudi parents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the decision was made to move him.

Officials here are saying very little about his arrival here. The base has been closed to the media. The only glimpse we are expecting of his arrival will be from this position. The flight path that his aircraft will take goes right over us. This is a huge base, 3,400 acres, the largest Naval station in the world. And along the waterfront here is the brig, which has the capacity to hold 145 prisoners, men and women. It is unlikely, however, that it has ever held anyone that fits the description of Hamdi.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is continuing to investigate the matter of his citizenship. They are trying to determine if at anytime he might have renounced his U.S. citizenship or if he might hold dual citizenship, or if the U.S. might be able to revoke his citizenship if they can prove, as they have alleged, that he fought alongside the Taliban.

Also being investigated by the Justice Department, what charges if any they might be able to bring against him. And so, Carol, Hamdi is expected to arrive here later this afternoon. When he will leave is very uncertain. Back to you. LIN: Jeanne, I'm just wondering. The fact that the Justice Department is investigating his status. It's still unclear whether, as you said, he had another citizenship or renounced his U.S. citizenship. Does this buy some time for the officials to actually hold him behind bars, because as an American citizen, if he was arrested on the streets of, you know, Omaha, Nebraska, they would have to charge him within a certain period of time? I think it's like 72 hours.

MESERVE: Well, what the citizenship matter will determine amongst other things is whether they continue to hold him here. If, in fact, he's a U.S. citizen and not a member of the military, he will have to be transferred into a civilian facility and, yes, you're right, at that time, there's going to be a certain window of opportunity for them to press charges. And so they have to get all the information they can and assemble it and assess it and weigh what the possible charges are. They have a limited amount of time to do that. You're right. This does buy them a bit of time, apparently.

LIN: Are you hearing, though, what the charges potentially could be? What sort of case are they looking at?

MESERVE: Yesterday, the Pentagon spokeswoman, Torrie Clark, was asked about this. She said it is far too early to make any decision about what those charges could possibly be. And we have heard no more since then -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Jeanne Meserve reporting live from Norfolk, Virginia. That plane getting ready to take off from Dulles International Airport, carrying the second American Taliban, a 22-year-old young man who was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Didn't spent much time here in the United States, just a few months before he left with his Saudi-born parents.

And according to our sources, authorities are trying to get as much information out of Hamdi as possible while they have him in custody to find out if he knows of any future terrorist attacks against Americans or anywhere around the world. Still don't know how involved he was with the al Qaeda network, though he was fighting on behalf of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. So we will keep an eye on that story.

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