Obama abandons 'enemy combatant'

WASHINGTON - March 13, 2009 - In court filings Friday, the Justice Department said it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

/*Obama*/ still asserts the military's authority to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. But he says that authority comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power.

Bush had argued that the president as commander in chief could unilaterally hold prisoners without charge.

The Justice Department says prisoners can only be detained if their support for al-Qaida or the Taliban was "substantial."

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