Possible pact on terror legislation arises

WASHINGTON -- The White House yesterday scrambled to reach a compromise with Republican senators on how the nation should treat its most dangerous terrorism suspects, amid an intra party rebellion that has turned into a growing political distraction.

Through a frenzied series of phone calls and meetings between Bush administration officials and key Senate Republicans, the contours of a possible compromise began to emerge, according to several senators and aides.

Rather than reinterpret the Geneva Conventions , which prohibit inhumane treatment , to allow the CIA to continue aggressive interrogation practices, the White House has expressed a willingness to have Congress clarify the 1996 War Crimes Act. That maneuver would give American operatives leeway to conduct interrogations without the fear of prosecution, senators said.

Since that involves altering US law instead of changing the meaning of an international treaty, the idea appears to answer a major objection raised by a trio of influential GOP senators. Those senators, led by John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said they fear that American soldiers could be endangered if other nations followed the lead of the United States in narrowing the scope of the Geneva Conventions.

``There's a significant difference in the way it's perceived by other countries, other governments," said Senator John E. Sununu , a New Hampshire Republican who has remained neutral in the standoff between President Bush and the senators. ``I think we'll be able to come to an agreement and settle on language on what appear to be common objectives."

But McCain and the other lawmakers cautioned that no deals had been struck, and other points of disagreement could prove more difficult to solve. McCain's proposal would allow terrorist suspects facing trial to have access to all evidence used against them and would limit the admissibility of evidence obtained through coercive techniques -- points on which the White House sharply disagrees.

``Until such time as words are put down on paper and people agree on it, I would not try and prejudge who's giving in, who's doing this, or one thing or another," said John W. Warner , a Virginia Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who supports the McCain proposal. ``Progress is being made, in good faith."

Underscoring the differences that remain, Senate minority leader Bill H. Frist said that while McCain, Warner, and a third Republican, Senator Lindsey O. Graham, are perhaps ``90 percent" in agreement with Bush, they continue to insist on provisions that he and the White House deem unacceptable. Frist flatly declared that the group of senators lack the 60 votes they'd need to ensure passage of their proposal without White House support.

``The Warner-McCain-Graham approach does not meet the bottom-line criteria which I think is important to the safety and security of the American people," said Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

The disagreement has forced House and Senate leaders to shelve plans to pass a detainee-treatment bill this week. With Congress set to adjourn at the end of next week, the bill is in danger of being crowded out by other priorities. Congressional leaders are also trying to approve border-security measures and authorization for warrantless wiretaps of suspected terrorists in the final legislative days before the Nov. 7 congressional elections.

Republicans hoped to use this period to emphasize the party's commitment to combating terror, but the fight among Republicans has instead highlighted deep differences inside the party.

Democrats have largely stayed out of the fight, aligning themselves with McCain's proposal but otherwise delighting in the GOP's internal turmoil. ``The administration understands they're back on their heels, so they're trying to find some way to negotiate a compromise," said Richard J. Durbin , an Illinois Democrat and the Senate minority whip. ``It's an indication of weakness."

The legislation is necessary because of a June Supreme Court decision that found the administration's military tribunals for terror suspects to be unlawful under the Geneva Conventions.

Bush has warned that without clarifying the Geneva Conventions' prohibition of ``outrages upon personal dignity," CIA agents won't be able to conduct aggressive interrogations because of fear of legal consequences.

But McCain, a Navy veteran who was tortured during more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison, has argued that limiting the reach of the Geneva Conventions could endanger US soldiers by freeing up other countries to redefine the treaty .

The White House's effort to find a compromise is raising concerns among some of its conservative allies. Senator Jeff Sessions , an Alabama Republican, said he believes the administration should continue to insist on changing the interpretation of the Geneva Conventions. Anything less could leave too much uncertainty for the president to effectively lead a fight against terrorists, Sessions said.

``He can't use powers he doesn't have," he said. ``I believe we've got to be careful that we don't. . . . pass something [unwise] as the result of an immediate political outcry."

In another twist, momentum is building to amend the proposals by both the president and the senators to allow detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the right to challenge their detentions in federal court. Both bills would block hundreds of cases -- known as ``habeas corpus" petitions -- brought by detainees alleging unjust imprisonment.

Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat, plans to offer an amendment today in the House Judiciary Committee that would guarantee habeas corpus rights to detainees.