US President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that allows the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to continue its program of questioning key terrorist leaders and operatives.

Describing the bill as "one of the most important pieces of legislation in the war on terror," Bush said it allows the US to "prosecute captured terrorists for war crimes through a full and fair trial."

The bill provides legal protection for US military and intelligence personnel, who are only doing their jobs, against possible lawsuits filed by terrorists, he said.

Bush acknowledged several weeks ago that the CIA had been secretly interrogating some suspected terrorists overseas and asked for Congress's authority to try them in military commissions.

The spy agency's secret detention facilities overseas, when revealed last year, caused a political uproar in Washington and attracted criticism worldwide.

"This program has been one of the most successful intelligence efforts in American history. It has helped prevent attacks on our country," Bush insisted.

The CIA program, according to Bush, was "one of the most vital tools in our war against the terrorists" and "helped us gain vital intelligence from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, two of the men believed to have helped plan and facilitate the 9/11 attacks."

While the legislation sets the rules for court proceedings for suspected terrorists, it applies only to those selected by the military for prosecution. Most suspects being held by the US military, believed to be about 14,000 and the majority of them in Iraq, would not be affected by the law.

Of the hundreds of detainees at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, only 10 have been selected for trial. The indefinite detention of others has been condemned by human rights groups as a violation of international law.

Some or all the 14 suspects held by the CIA in secret prisons and recently transferred to military custody at Guantanamo might also be tried.

Bush authorized the creation of special military tribunals for terrorism suspects months after the September 11 attacks, but the legality of the system was challenged in the US courts.

The Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions, or special military tribunals, needed to be explicitly authorized by the Congress, Bush said. "And so I asked Congress for that authority, and they have provided it."

Three weeks before the mid-term congressional elections, the signing of the bill is believed to be a deliberate move aimed at shifting public attention, at least momentarily, from the slew of scandals that could cost the Republicans their control of Congress.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)