The Bush Administrations's plans for military tribunals are nearing completion.

Supposedly only a small number of the 625 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the 100 or so being held in a U.S. military compound in Bagram, Afghanistan, will be tried by tribunals. Plans call for the tribunals to be held outside the U.S. No information has been released on which detainees will be tried first. The President will have to identify those to be tried by tribunal by name.

Justice Department officials say they do not intend to remove Moussaoui from the federal court system in favor of a trial by tribunal. They are concerned that Moussaoui would challenge a move on the grounds that the tribunals don't apply to people inside the U.S. Such a claim could subject the tribunal process to a constitutional challenge, which clearly the Bush administration prefers to avoid.

"The tribunals would be held amid extremely tight security, U.S. officials said, with some witnesses possibly testifying from remote locations or with electronically altered voices. Defendants will have the right to see evidence against them, unless it is classified, and will be given military counsel. A two-thirds majority of judges is required for conviction, but a unanimous vote is needed to impose the death penalty."

"Pentagon attorneys are in "the process of identifying potential key personnel" for the military commissions, according to a senior defense official. The official would not specify which personnel are being screened, but the military must select judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys before a tribunal can be held."

Bush signed an executive order last November authorizing the tribunals. A first draft of the regulations governing the proceedings was published by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last March.

"The tribunals would be held amid extremely tight security, U.S. officials said, with some witnesses possibly testifying from remote locations or with electronically altered voices. Defendants will have the right to see evidence against them, unless it is classified, and will be given military counsel. A two-thirds majority of judges is required for conviction, but a unanimous vote is needed to impose the death penalty."

The selection of judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys will be done by the military. A senior Bush official told the Washington Post that " the screening should not be taken to reflect a decision to proceed with the military commissions, but said it is necessary for the Pentagon to be in position to move ahead should the president decide to do so."

"Pentagon lawyers are also drafting final implementing regulations needed to initiate the military tribunals. Officials in the Pentagon general counsel's office said they are completing work on specific charges that could be lodged against defendants. U.S. officials have said previously that the charges would include violations of the laws of war and possibly other offenses."

The timing is believed to be reflective of the military's success with obtaining information from four individuals in particular:

Abu Zubaida, the alleged high-ranking al Qaeda leader whose information led to the arrest of Jose Padilla in Chicago, and who authorities suspect was scouting locations in the U.S. for a dirty bomb attack;

Omar al-Farouq, "the alleged Southeast Asia facilitator for al Qaeda, and Muhammad Darbi, an alleged member of a Yemeni cell";

Muhammad Darbi, an alleged member of a Yemeni cell; and

Ramzi Binlashibh, who was captured in Pakistan after acknowledging his participation as a planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in an interview with the al-Jazeera television station a few months ago.

The military says all of the above have provided information on other leaders and members in Al Qaeda. Apparently they believe the information obtained from these detainees is credible enough to rely upon for purposes of obtaining a conviction in a military prosecution.