For only the third time President Bush yesterday designated a suspect in the so-called war on terror as an enemy combatant. This gives the government the power to hold the suspect indefinitely without ever pressing charges and barring him any access to an attorney.

The man Ali Marri of Qatar has actually been in U.S. custody since December, 2001. Until yesterday he was facing criminal charges for lying to the FBI and for credit card fraud. But those charges were dropped yesterday and he was handed over to the U.S. military. He is now being held on an undisclosed military brig.

Federal prosecutors charge Marri was a sleeper operative for Al Qaeda who was living in Illinois.

His lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said Marri was designated an enemy combatant because his legal team was raising powerful challenges to the government’s allegations.

Lustberg said, “If the government had proof he was involved in terrorism, they would have charged him with that, but they didn’t.”