US top court allows secrecy for Sept 11 detainees

The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Bush administration to keep secret the names and other details of hundreds of people questioned and detained after 9/11.

Without comment, the top court refused to hear an appeal by civil liberties and other groups challenging the secret arrests and detentions for violating the Freedom of Information Act and constitutional free-speech rights under the First Amendment. The justices let stand a US appeals court ruling that disclosing the names could harm national security and help 8216;8216;Al Qaeda in plotting future terrorist attacks or intimidating witnesses8217;8217;.

Although the high court stayed out of the dispute involving the names of detainees, it has agreed to hear other cases arising from the administration8217;s war on terror. Those cases involve the President8217;s power to detain American citizens captured abroad and declared 8216;8216;enemy combatants8217;8217;, and whether foreign nationals can use US courts to challenge their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.