Bush still hoping for military trials

Washington: US President George W. Bush yesterday said that a US Supreme Court ruling on the fate of Guantanamo Bay detainees would not set any suspected terrorists free and that he still hoped to try them in military courts.

"We will analyse the decision. To the extent that the Congress is given any latitude to develop a way forward using military tribunals, we will work with them," said Bush. "I want to find a way forward."

His remarks came during a joint appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi following a US Supreme Court ruling that Bush overstepped his powers in setting up military tribunals for detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Republican US Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said immediately after the decision that the US Congress would try to build a legal framework to try the most dangerous Guantanamo suspects.

"He wants to devise law in conformity with the case that would enable us to use a military tribunal to hold these people to account. And if that's the case, we'll work with him," Bush said.

"The American people need to know that this ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street," said the president, who cautioned that he had only received a speedy briefing on the decision.

"I have not had a chance to review the findings of the Supreme Court. I want to assure you we take them seriously," said Bush. "We will conform to the Supreme Court, we will analyse the decision."

But "I'm not going to jeopardise the safety of the American people. People got to understand that. I understand we're in a war on terror, that these people were picked up off of a battlefield, and I will protect the people and at the same time conform with the findings of the Supreme Court", said Bush.

"I have told the people that I would like for there to be a way to return people from Guantanamo to their home countries. But some people need to be tried in our courts," the president said.

Lawyers and human rights advocates praised yesterday's Supreme Court decision rejecting military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, but some agreed with the base's commander that the ruling won't likely force a shutdown of the detention centre anytime soon.

The 5-3 vote was seen as a rebuke to Bush and his administration's aggressive anti-terror policies.