DETROIT -- The detained co-founder of an Islamic charity has appealed an order that would send him and his family back to Lebanon, postponing their deportation for at least a couple of months, his lawyer said.

Ashraf Nubani, attorney for Rabih Haddad, said Thursday that he has filed a notice of appeal with the federal Board of Immigration Appeals, part of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Nubani said he hopes to argue Haddad's case before the board in the next couple of months. A spokesman for the Department of Justice confirmed the appeal was filed and had no further comment.

Haddad, a Lebanese citizen, was arrested for a visa violation in his Ann Arbor, Mich., home Dec. 14, 2001, the same day the suburban Chicago offices of the Global Relief Foundation were raided.

Haddad is co-founder of the charity, which federal authorities accuse of funneling money to Al Qaeda.

In November, an immigration judge denied political asylum to Haddad, his wife and three of their children and ordered them removed from the United States. All are accused of overstaying their visas; only Haddad is in jail.

Nubani said he talks to his client by phone about three times a week at the jail in Monroe County, Mich..

"It's been a year, and there have been no charges," Nubani said. "He understands this is about civil rights."

Haddad's case has attracted international attention and evolved into something more than an immigration issue. He and his supporters have made legal challenges over secret court hearings, and the local Muslim community is in an uproar.

Haddad's wife, Salma Al-Rushaid, has said she worries about her husband's health. Because he's in solitary confinement, he rarely gets exercise and the cell has poor ventilation, she said.

Haddad's early hearings were closed to the public, prompting lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union, several newspapers and U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who argued that the proceedings must be open.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed in August, though some parts of subsequent hearings were closed.

In its argument, the government said opening the hearings could allow terrorists to gain information that could threaten U.S. security.

Neither Haddad nor Global Relief has been charged with a terror-related crime.