Obama to revive Guantanamo military trials

President Barack Obama is due to announce this week that he is reviving controversial military trials for suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, US officials said.

But Obama, who sharply criticized the use of military commissions to try extremists under his predecessor George W. Bush, may ask lawmakers to expand legal protections for detainees, the officials said Tuesday, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Obama is scheduled to meet in the Oval Office Wednesday with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the panel, in addition to congressional leadership.

The president could push Congress, which created the military commissions in 2006, to curb the use of hearsay evidence, ban coerced testimony and allow suspects to choose their defense counsel, one source said.