US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld is expected to issue regulations today for military trials for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters captured in the war in Afghanistan.
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Mr Donald Rumsfeld
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Government sources said the tribunals would be similar to courts-martial but that prosecutors would have more leeway in presenting evidence.
Under the tribunal rules, defendants would be given a military lawyer and could also retain a civilian attorney, the sources said.
The tribunals would be closed only if prosecutors wanted to present classified material and the military officers on the panel would have to reach a unanimous agreement to impose a death sentence.
If convicted, defendants could request a special review, but would have no right of appeal to a federal court or to the US Supreme Court, they said. The president or the defence secretary would have the final say on a death sentence.
US President Mr George W. Bush said yesterday the tribunals are just an option for dealing with terrorists and vowed that the military courts, should they be used, would be objective.
"The world now will begin to see what we meant by a fair system that will enable us to bring people to justice [but] at the same time protect citizenry," Mr Bush said.
Only a small number of the 300 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held at US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and over 200 at US bases in Afghanistan are expected to face military tribunals.