US president Barack Obama is to resume military tribunals for some terrorist suspects held at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
President Obama ordered a 120-day halt to the war crimes tribunals hours after taking office in January.
His administration is expected to announce details of the resumption today, according to a White House source.
White House officials have been reviewing legal procedures that Mr Obama has criticised for not adequately protecting the accused. The US leader will declare new legal rules through an executive order, including a ban on all evidence obtained through cruel or degrading treatment, including simulated drowning, known waterboarding.
The administration is still seeking court approval to put legal proceedings on hold for another four months while it makes the changes to the legal system, the official said. US Defense Department officials previously have said that as many as 80 of the 241 suspected terrorists remaining at Guantanamo would be tried before military commissions.
Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that as many as 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees who can't be released or tried in federal courts could be moved to the US when the Obama administration closes the prison later this year.
Bloomberg