AP Exclusive: To keep program secret, CIA whisked 9/11 figures from Gitmo before court ruling

AP Exclusive: CIA whisked detainees from Gitmo

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press has learned that four of the nation’s most highly valued terrorist detainees were secretly moved to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003, years earlier than has been disclosed, then whisked back into overseas prisons before the Supreme Court could give them access to lawyers.

The transfer allowed the U.S. to interrogate the detainees for two more years without allowing them to speak with attorneys or challenge their detention in U.S. courts. Had they remained at Guantanamo for just three more months, they would have been afforded those rights.

Removing them from Guantanamo underscores how worried the Bush administration was that the Supreme Court might lift the veil of secrecy on the detention program.