Gitmo closure easy, legal challenge not

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- All three major U.S presidential hopefuls advocate closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but the legal hurdles are daunting, legal experts say.

Washington officials who developed the strategy for the so-called war on terrorism pushed for a legal system that would hold terror suspects indefinitely, away from the United States and outside its court system.

Officially, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday, nobody in Washington intends to move the Guantanamo detainees to the United States and nobody is planning to shut the facility down. Off the record, however, officials are quietly working on a strategy to move them should the next president change directions, the newspaper said.

The rules in place for the war crimes tribunal governing the detainees are much different than in the U.S. court system, meaning much of the evidence gleaned during their detention is inadmissible in civilian courts. That would free hundreds of suspected al-Qaida agents, officials caution.

Any plans, however, will have to wait. In June, the Supreme Court is to decide a package of cases, Boumediene vs. Bush and al-Odah vs. Bush, and define the constitutional rights of detainees to appeal their detention in civilian courts.