U.S. President George W. Bush has signed into law a controversial new bill that allows for aggressive interrogation and quick prosecution of terror suspects.

At a ceremony in the White House attended by senior military and civilian security officials, Bush said the Military Commissions Act would save American lives and help the country stop militant attacks before they happen.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of being one of the main planners of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will be one of the first to face trial under the new law.
(Associated Press)

"With this bill, America reaffirms her intent to win the war on terror," he said.

He said the legislation would be used immediately to question and prosecute suspects at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere. 

Among those to face early trial, the president said, would be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of being one of the main planners of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"With this bill I am about to sign," Bush said during the ceremony, "the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice."

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions used to try inmates at Guantanamo Bay were illegal under American and international law. The White House says the legislation makes those tribunals legal entities while giving specific authority to interrogators to use certain aggressive techniques to question suspects.

It bars "cruel and inhuman" treatment of detainee but denies them access to legal counsel during questioning and the right of habeas corpus, the means by which a prisoner normally can apply for release from custody he considers unlawful.

Opponents, including most Democrat members of Congress, say those restrictions go too far and civil rights groups are already planning court challenges.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the new bill is "one of the worst civil liberties measures ever enacted in American history."

The executive director of the ACLU, Anthony Romero, said the legislation allows the president, with congressional approval, to hold prisoners without charge, indefinitely, while subjecting them to "horrific abuse."

"Nothing could be further from the American values we all hold in our hearts," he said.

With files from the Associated Press