Washington, USA - The Bush administration says that when Congress approved military action against the Sept. 11 terrorists, it also gave the president authority to detain people who never took up arms against the U.S.
Authorities made that case Friday as they defended the six-year detention of a Chinese Muslim at Guantanamo Bay. Huzaifa Parhat (pronounced hoo-ZY'-fah PAHR'-hoht) was captured in Afghanistan, but says he considers China, not the United States, the enemy.
Officials acknowledge Parhat never fought the U.S. and there's no evidence he planned to do so. Yet government attorneys say he can be held under the law authorizing force against anyone who planned or aided the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The U.S. says Parhat is affiliated with a Chinese separatist group it suspects has ties to al-Qaida. Parhat is seeking his immediate release.