25/08/2007
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration argued Friday that discrepancies between the nation's new terror law and the way it is being carried out should not stall one of the Pentagon's first terrorism trials.
Arguing before the newly formed U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, government attorneys urged judges to look beyond the letter of the law when deciding whether the military undermined its terrorism tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.
The case hinges on a single word: unlawful. Before terror suspects can be prosecuted before military commissions, the law requires they be deemed ``unlawful enemy combatants.'' But Guantanamo Bay tribunals have simply been calling them ``enemy combatants.''
Lawyers for Omar Khadr argue that's a fatal flaw in the government's case and that Khadr can't go before a military commission. If the three-judge appeals court agrees, it could force the Pentagon to redo tribunals for dozens of detainees.
Authorities are counting on the military commissions to decide the fate of about 80 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including the so-called ``high-value'' detainees whose ranks include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. But the system has yet to face a full test, and some lawyers say they expect to be arguing procedural issues for years.
``When you start up a new system, it takes time,'' retired Col. Francis Gilligan, the lead attorney in the appeals case, said after court Friday. ``This is taking time, but eventually you'll see the trials start.''
SOURCE: The Guardian
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