WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate committee Wednesday that he has made no decision on where to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, deflecting a top Republican's call to move the trial to a military commission.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder also clarified previous comments he made about the fate of Osama bin Laden, saying that while he hopes bin Laden will be captured and interrogated, it's unlikely the al-Qaida leader will be taken alive.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., called for Mohammed and his co-defendants to be tried in a military commission rather than civilian courts.
"Pretending that terrorists can be considered criminals will not make it so," he said.
Holder had planned to try Mohammed in a civilian court in New York City but the Obama administration reconsidered the plan after political and public criticism.
The attorney general said that his decision on where to have the trial would depend on what is best for the case.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., aggressively defended the effectiveness of using civilian courts to try terror suspects, saying Republicans are ignoring the record, which shows, she said, "the Bush administration brought 200 terrorists to justice under (civilian) courts."
Throughout the hearing Republicans attacked the practice of reading Miranda rights to terrorism suspects, which was highlighted when alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was "Mirandized" after being arrested.
Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., along with Sessions, said that, once informed of their right to remain silent and to have an attorney present suspects will be less likely to provide actionable intelligence.
But Holder disputed the idea, saying, "Although I cannot discuss the intelligence that (Abdulmutallab) provided, I can tell you it has not just been valuable, it has been actionable."
Responding to questions, Holder reaffirmed the Obama administration's commitment to closing the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility, although he would not set a time line for its closure.
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., said, that "as a practical matter, as a budget issue, and certainly as a symbol, Guantanamo Bay has to close."
Graham joined Holder and Cardin in calling for the detainees to be moved to a facility "not tainted by the past."
