WASHINGTON, April 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Justice Department is unlikely to press charges against Yasser Esam Hamdi, a U.S.-born detainee who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.

"It is not likely that Justice is going to want him," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is more likely they will say at some point here soon, this is not one we're interested in."

The official said no decision has been taken on what would happen to Hamdi if the Justice Department does not prosecute him. Other U.S. options include handing Hamdi over to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said.

Until then, Hamdi will remain in a military prison until a decision is made about his fate, reported news agencies. Releasing him to his country of origin could mean setting him free in the United States. Therefore, the option of holding Hamdi until the end of the conflict is a likely possibility.

Hamdi was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Saudi parents in 1979. He was transferred last week to the U.S. Naval Brig at Norfolk, Virginia, from a U.S. military detention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Although it remains unclear whether he is a U.S. national, the official said, "There was a presumption that he probably had U.S. citizenship."

There is also a presumption that Hamdi may hold dual citizenship with both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Hamdi returned to Saudi Arabia with his parents when he was a young child.

His citizenship came into question after a U.S. birth certificate was discovered. If Hamdi is a U.S. citizen, he would become ineligible for trial before military tribunals that can only review cases involving foreigners.

The 22-year-old was captured after a prison uprising in late November at Mazar-i-Sharif in which a CIA officer was killed.

Another U.S. national captured after the prison uprising, John Walker Lindh, faces trial in a U.S. federal court in August on charges of conspiring to kill Americans and other terrorism-related charges.

Justice Department officials have interviewed Hamdi "a few times" and the Pentagon and the Justice Department were to hold further discussions about Hamdi's fate, the official said.

"We are not interested in having any large numbers of people. We don't want to be the prison wardens of all time. So we want to find the appropriate thing to do with these people, depending on who they are and what they did," the official said.

"They’ll either keep him and try to get information from him, or they'll send him back home because he's not interesting, or they'll try him under one of the alternative opportunities we have," Rumsfeld added.

As a U.S. citizen Hamdi would not be eligible for trial by military commission, the special panels being set up by the Pentagon to try foreign-born members of al-Qaeda, the group accused of carrying out the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But the official indicated that as a combatant, Hamdi could still be held for the duration of the war. So far, no civilian criminal charges have been brought against Hamdi.

However, both Defense and Justice officials said a final decision had not been made concerning Hamdi’s case.