The Saudi authorities have detained witnesses and victims of crimes.

Two weeks into the biggest manhunt in history, federal authorities have released several people, even as they continue to detain more potential suspects and witnesses for questioning.

The ruling, which was hailed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, was expected to reinforce the Bush administration's use of a federal material-witness statute as a tool for detaining potentially hostile witnesses in its investigation of terrorism.

D: Detain and identify witnesses and suspects.

Officers are demanding raises, bulletproof vests and the suspension of new laws giving suspects the right to lawyers, shortening the time they may be held without trial and making it harder to detain witnesses.

Third was to detain witnesses and protect me evidence, for it was always the officer's job to look beyond the tragedy of the moment.

Law enforcement experts said they had never encountered a police department with a practice of detaining witnesses to get information.

Criminal lawyers in Detroit say that the practice of detaining witnesses to compel them to cooperate has gone on for years.

The material witness statute is normally used to detain witnesses deemed to be flight risks.

Qatari law enforcement authorities have detained potential witnesses or relatives without charges or access to legal counsel during the investigation of a crime.