Specter to press for detainees' habeas corpus rights

A leading Republican senator on Monday said he will fight to give detainees the right to challenge their imprisonment, creating a new potential obstacle for legislation President George W. Bush wants in order to try terrorism suspects.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he would join Democrats working to amend a bill setting up trial procedures for foreign terrorism suspects that Republican leaders are trying to push through Congress this week.

As it now stands, the bill, which the White House was forced to negotiate with a group of Senate Republicans, would bar inmates held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from using habeas corpus petitions to challenge the legality of their detentions.

"I believe it is unconstitutional to take away habeas corpus," Specter of Pennsylvania told reporters after a hearing with a panel of experts who were divided on the issue.