WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama is set to revive the system of military commissions for prosecuting Guantanamo detainees, but with more legal protections for the accused, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The new rules would block the use of evidence obtained from coercive interrogations, the Post said, quoting unnamed U.S. government officials. The proposed rules would also tighten the admissibility of hearsay testimony, and allow detainees at the camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- which Obama plans to close – greater freedom to choose their attorneys, the paper said. But it quoted a White House official as saying that no final decision had been made. One source told the paper the plan awaits Obama's approval.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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