Honolulu: US President Barack Obama on Saturday signed a huge defence bill of $662 billion despite “serious reservations” that it seeks to force his hand on Guantanamo Bay and military trials for terror suspects.
Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, added a signing statement to the $662 billion law, laying out objections to its constraints on detaining and prosecuting suspects, and directing government agencies on how to interpret them.
“I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists,” Obama said.
“I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens,” he said.
The defence bill also contains a measure that would apply sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran in an effort to pressure Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons program and would freeze $700Â million in US aid to Pakistan.
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