U.S. seeks 3d delay in detainee cases

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is planning to seek a third continuance in several cases at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including those of defendants charged in the Sept. 11 attacks, according to U.S. officials and a court filing by the Justice Department.

The expected request for a 60-day delay, which military judges must still rule on, comes as the administration continues to formulate its plans to close the military prison.

Those plans hinge on several other developments. An interagency team led by the Justice Department is nearing the end of its review of the cases of the 226 detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay - a process aimed at helping officials decide which detainees can be released to third countries, which of them should be prosecuted, and whether those trials should be held in federal courts or military commissions.

Meanwhile, before proceeding with military-commission trials, the administration is pressing Congress to pass a series of changes to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that will provide defendants with greater due process.

The administration first asked for a 120-day halt to proceedings at Guantanamo in January when President Obama announced his intention to close the military prison within a year. It later obtained a second 120-day continuance, which is scheduled to expire today.

Nevertheless, hearings have continued at Guantanamo Bay because the government has said that such court sessions do not amount to a "proceeding."

In addition to asking military judges for another continuance, officials say, the government will seek a stay in a competency hearing scheduled for next week in the case of Ramzi Binalshibh.

Binalshibh is attempting to represent himself in the Sept. 11 case over the objections of his military attorneys, who argue that his mental fitness to do so remains in question. Military defense lawyers in Binalshibh's case said they would not contest the government's request for a delay.

In a filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday, the Justice Department said the Military Commissions Act "may be substantially amended" in the next 60 days and "a decision might be made to prosecute [Binalshibh] in federal court.

The filing came in response to an emergency writ filed by Binalshibh's lawyers asking the court to find military commissions unconstitutional and to stop the competency hearing set for next week.

The government argued that the appeals court lacked jurisdiction to intervene because no final verdict had been rendered in Binalshibh's case and because he must first pursue lines of appeal in the military system.

The government is examining a number of U.S. sites as possibilities to hold some detainees after they are moved from Guantanamo.

As the administration worked to close down the detention center, Hungary yesterday pledged to accept a detainee.

Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said that Hungary would choose from a short list of Guantanamo prisoners in the coming days and that the released detainee would participate in an 18-month integration program.

Hungary becomes the fourth member of the European Union - after France, Ireland, and Portugal - to formally accept former Guantanamo prisoners. The Spanish government said last week it was close to deciding how many Guantanamo detainees it would accept.