The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has reversed the District Court's grant of habeas corpus relief to Guantanamo detainee Saeed Mohammed Saleh Hatim.

The district court ruled that the military could detain only individuals who were "part of" al-Qaida or the Taliban; and that Hatim did not fit that description. That ruling is directly contrary to Al-Bihani v. Obama, which held that "those who purposefully and materially support" al-Qaida or the Taliban could also be detained. 590 F.3d 866, 872 (D.C. Cir. 2010).  Hatim admits the error, but says it was harmless. We cannot see how. As the district court stated in issuing the stay, Al-Bihani "calls into question" a "key  determination[]" upon which the order rested.