US:The Bush administration must decide by tomorrow whether to appeal a decision by military judges to drop all charges against two inmates at Guantánamo Bay on the grounds that they do not qualify for trial by a special military commission.
In a ruling that put into question all future trials of Guantánamo detainees, the judges said that Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan, and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, accused of being part of al-Qaeda, could not stand trial under the military commissions law.
The law says only "unlawful enemy combatants" can be tried before the military commissions, but Guantánamo detainees have been classified by tribunals simply as "enemy combatants".
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration did not agree with the decision but added that the defence department had yet to decide whether to appeal against it.
Military officials said they could restart the tribunal process to allow them to add the word "unlawful" to detainees' records, but Democratic senator and presidential candidate Chris Dodd said the decision highlighted flaws in the law passed by a Republican-controlled congress last year. "The current system of prosecuting enemy combatants is not only inefficient and ineffective, it is also hurting America's moral standing in the world."
Mr Khadr was 15 when he was arrested in July 2002 following a battle in Afghanistan in which Sgt Christopher Speers was killed by a grenade. Mr Hamdan, who was charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, admits that he was Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard but denies any involvement in terrorist acts.
In August 2005 Mr Hamdan challenged the legality of his pending trial before the US supreme court, arguing that the then-existing commission system set up by presidential order was unfair because it allowed the executive's military subordinates to determine who would act as judge and jury and which crimes would be prosecuted. The court ruled that the military commissions as initially constituted were illegal under military law and the Geneva Convention, prompting Congress to pass a new military commissions act last year.
The latest decision casts doubt on the future of the new act and Republican senator Arlen Specter, a former chairman of the judiciary committee, said it could prompt Congress to re-evaluate the legal rights of detainees, including the ban on them filing habeas corpus suits to challenge their detentions.
