WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will restart Bush-era military tribunals for a small number of Guantanamo detainees, reviving a fiercely disputed trial system he once denounced but with new legal protections for terror suspects, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Obama suspended the tribunals within hours of taking office in January, ordering a review but stopping short of abandoning President George W. Bush's strategy of prosecuting suspected terrorists.
Obama's decision to resume the tribunals is certain to face criticism from liberal groups, already stung by his decision Wednesday to block the court-ordered release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan _ a reversal of his earlier stand on making the photos public.
Officials spoke about the military commission decision only on condition of anonymity, saying some of the details were not final.
An announcement was expected Friday.
The tribunal system _ set up after the military began sweeping detainees off the battlefields of Afghanistan in late 2001 _ has been under repeated challenges from human rights and legal organizations because it denied defendants many of the rights they would be granted in a civilian courtroom.
An administration official familiar with Obama's decision said between 10 and 20 of the 241 detainees currently at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be tried by military commissions. Thirteen other detainees _ including five charged with helping orchestrate the Sept. 11 attacks _ already have been moved into the system and are expected to be tried there.
The rest of the detainees would either be released, transferred to other nations or tried by civilian prosecutors in U.S. federal courts, an official said. It's also possible that some could continue to be held indefinitely as prisoners of war with full Geneva Conventions protections, according to another senior U.S. official.
Obama faces two deadlines: his 120-day review of the tribunals ends Wednesday, and on May 27 the trial of Ahmed al-Darbi, a Saudi accused of plotting to attack a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, is scheduled to begin.
In February 2008, during his presidential campaign, Obama described the Guantanamo trials as "a flawed military commission system that has failed to convict any one of a terrorist act since the 9/11 attacks and that has been embroiled in legal challenges." Critics, including many Democrats, cited the tribunals in assailing Bush, who had pushed Congress to create the system. They accused him of violating U.S. law by limiting the detainees' legal rights.
The new decision will delay the trials for several more months, the officials said. Obama is adding some changes to the commissions before they are restarted, including expanding the detainees' legal protections by restricting hearsay evidence that can be used against them, according to two officials.
The delay would give the administration time to adjust the system and allow Congress to review any rule changes or pass legislation altering the military commission law.
The decision to restart the process puts the administration in a race against the clock to conclude commission trials before the Navy prison is closed, by January 2010. If the trials are still going on, the detainees might have to be brought to the United States, where they would receive even greater legal rights.
Obama's decision also amounts to an admission that delivering on his promise to close Guantanamo is easier said than done. Since he ordered the prison closed, Republicans have focused on the issue of where the detainees would go _ and the new Democratic administration's lack of a plan to deal with them.
On Capitol Hill Thursday, the House approved war-funding legislation that says detainees from Guantanamo must not be released on U.S. soil _ though it would allow some of the prisoners to be transferred to the United States to stand trial or serve their sentences.
A key Senate committee, meanwhile, approved a companion bill that includes $50 million for the Pentagon to begin the promised closure of the detention facility.
A half-dozen administration officials said the White House initially planned to announce the tribunal order on Wednesday. But an outcry over his decision on the photos delayed the Guantanamo decision, they said.
Obama said he was concerned the pictures would "further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last month, the White House said it would not oppose the release of dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct.
The reversal set off immediate reactions from bloggers _ liberals who complained he was buckling to political pressure and conservatives who agreed with the decision but said it proved Obama was a flip-flopper.
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