Administration mulls detainee-rights moves

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Negotiations on how to treat enemies captured in the war on terror spilled into the open Thursday as Bush administration officials indicated a willingness to look at new protections for detainees in CIA and Pentagon custody.
But, officials maintained, these "enemy combatants" must not be granted certain legal rights that would expose classified information or hinder interrogations.
The Supreme Court on June 29 ruled that the Pentagon's military tribunal system was not authorized by Congress and violates international law. The decision prompted a Pentagon memo acknowledging that military detainees must be afforded basic protections under the Geneva Conventions. Left unclear by the administration was whether detainees held by the CIA also would be protected.
"The court made a ruling that Common Article 3 applies to our conflict with al-Qaida," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, referring to an article of the Geneva Conventions dealing with the treatment for prisoners of war. His comment came in what was the clearest statement yet from the administration that the court ruling applies to all suspected al-Qaida members in U.S. custody, not just those at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The CIA has never acknowledged that it holds any members of al-Qaida. However, senior administration officials and intelligence lawyers have been in extensive meetings since the court's decision to determine how it applies to all detainees, including those considered dangerous followers of Osama bin Laden.
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