The future of the infamous Guantánamo detention centre was thrown into doubt yesterday after the US supreme court delivered the most serious blow yet to President George Bush's policy of holding prisoners indefinitely without trial.
The justices, in a historic ruling, said the 270 prisoners, held for more than six years for alleged links with al-Qaida and the Taliban, have a constitutional right to take their cases to civilian courts on the US mainland.
Lawyers for the prisoners yesterday hailed the ruling as a vindication of their battle to have Guantánamo, in Cuba, closed.
Travelling in Rome, Bush said he did not agree with the ruling. "We'll abide by the court's decision. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it," he said.
The nine-member supreme court normally has a rightwing bent but Justice Anthony Kennedy, a maverick conservative who holds the balance of power, joined his more liberal colleagues to provide a 5-4 majority.