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Limits sought on detainee interviews

Interview techniques are 'highly sensitive'

The charges against Lindh include providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the case of John Walker Lindh want to keep information from interviews with 13 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, out of the hands of the news media and the public.

In legal motions filed Tuesday, the government says the defense is entitled to the material from the interviews to prepare its case, but claims publicizing the information could hamper the continuing terrorism investigation.

The government documents state, "... the intelligence information gathered during the interviews may be of critical importance to the national security, because detainees may reveal information leading to the identification and apprehension of other terrorist suspects and the prevention of terrorist acts."

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The legal motions also claim, "The identities of the detainees, as well as the questions asked and techniques employed in the interviews, are highly sensitive and confidential." The prosecutors seek to limit access to 13 interviews right now, but said that number could expand.

The charges against Lindh include conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations.

The prosecution in the case says the proposed limits on the interviews are similar to protections granted in the case of the African embassies bombings and in the upcoming case of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.