High Court To Hear Case On War Powers

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including now Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., overturned Robertson in July; Roberts has recused himself in Hamdan's appeal to the Supreme Court. For a time, it seemed as if the court might honor the administration's request that it stay out of the dispute. The case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , No. 05-184, had languished on the court's weekly conference agenda for about a month, suggesting that the justices were preparing to rebuff Hamdan's appeal. The former aide to Osama bin Laden is at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is charged with conspiring to commit terrorist acts.

"It's a little surprising, because one would have thought the court would have wanted to see whether Hamdan was found not guilty," Glennon said. "Therefore, the court seems disinclined to sit by the sidelines and defer to the executive's judgment as to what rule ought to govern."

An oral argument is scheduled for March and a decision due by July. A 4 to 4 tie would result in the affirmation of the lower court's ruling, which upheld the administration's policies. That outcome would probably permit the trials to go ahead, but it would not create a binding legal precedent.

The government says Hamdan, one of about 500 terrorist suspects imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, was bin Laden's confidant and bodyguard from 1996 to 2001 and helped transfer weapons from Taliban stockpiles to al Qaeda. But Hamdan says he was a mere chauffeur. He says that he has cooperated with U.S. interrogators but that they have mistreated him and held him in solitary confinement since December 2003.

Also yesterday, Defense Department officials announced that charges have been approved for five more "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay and that they could face military commissions soon.

The department said charges will go forward against Ghassan Abdullah Sharbi and Jabran Said bin Qahtani of Saudi Arabia; Sufyian Barhoumi of Algeria; Binyam Ahmed Muhammad of Ethiopia; and Omar Ahmed Khadr of Canada.

Four are charged with conspiracy to attack civilians, attack objects, murder, terrorism and destruction of property. Khadr is charged with conspiracy to murder and attempted murder, and with "aiding the enemy," according to a military statement.

According to military documents, Khadr is a juvenile who has admitted being trained at al Qaeda camps and claims to have planted land mines in Afghanistan and to have killed a U.S. soldier there.

The others have been linked to international terrorism and allegedly trained in al Qaeda camps, associated with top terrorist leaders or were known to U.S. officials as possibly training for attacks here.

Like Hamdan, some of the detainees have claimed abuse by U.S. soldiers.

In another development, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he hopes to add language to the defense authorization bill that would eliminate habeas rights for detainees captured during the terrorism fight to halt the "the never-ending litigation that is coming from Guantanamo."

Graham, who has also proposed an amendment that would put the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay under congressional supervision, said his package -- combined with Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) that limits U.S. interrogation practices -- would allow the United States to "regain the moral high ground" in the war.

Staff writer Josh White and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.