Alleged enemy combatant faces trial Monday in Ill.

PEORIA, Ill. -- Ali al-Marri followed his older brother to central Illinois in the mid-1980s to pursue a business education unavailable in his native Qatar, becoming a Bulls fan and honing his pool-playing skills. He returned for further study more than 10 years later, bringing along his wife and five children.

But Al-Marri's third trip to the area comes under different circumstances. He is facing trial on federal charges alleging he supported al-Qaida terrorists. His first court appearance is Monday.

Al-Marri, 43, was arrested in late 2001 while studying at Bradley University in Peoria after federal authorities alleged he was an al-Qaida sleeper agent tied to organizers of the Sept. 11 attacks. He was a legal U.S. resident but became the only "enemy combatant" in custody on American soil.

He was held without charges for more than five years at a Navy brig in South Carolina.

Then, last month, a federal grand jury in Illinois indicted al-Marri on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terror.

But family members, who live in Saudi Arabia, say he is innocent and deserves a chance to prove it.

"I want Ali to go to court and get his fair case," older brother Naji al-Marri said. "If he is innocent, free him. If he's not innocent, then that's the law."

Ali Al-Marri's arrest in December 2001 surprised some in this Midwest city on the Illinois River, home of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc., considered so representative of a cross-section of America that it is used as a test market.

"I remember how surprised I was that he lived in the community," said Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, a lifelong resident. "Someone potentially involved in the terrorist plot was here?"

Ali al-Marri graduated in 1991 with a bachelor's in business management administration, then went to work for a bank in Qatar. His family arranged his marriage and the couple had five children.

But al-Marri wanted to continue his education at Bradley, Naji al-Marri said. He obtained a student visa and returned to the U.S. on Sept. 10, 2001. Ali Al-Marri rented a house and enrolled in computer science classes.

After his arrest, Al-Marri was moved to New York and indicted on charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI, not terror charges. Federal authorities alleged he ran a scam to help fund al-Qaida.

The fraud charges against Ali al-Marri were dropped in June 2003, when President George W. Bush declared him an enemy combatant and ordered him transferred to military custody.

In court documents, the government contended Ali al-Marri met with Osama bin Laden in the summer of 2001 and was sent to the U.S. to help al-Qaida operatives carry out attacks following Sept. 11.

Al-Marri spent much of the past five years in isolation at the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C. He was interrogated and faced conditions his attorneys called torture. He initially was not allowed to wear socks or shoes on concrete floors, had no bedding and no human contact and experienced mental health issues, according to court documents. Attorneys said conditions later improved.

Attorney Andy Savage said Ali al-Marri is looking forward to trial.

"He believes that this will result in his repatriation to his homeland and return to his family," Savage said.