Obama to sign order shutting Gitmo in a year

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Associated Press has learned that President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year and halt military trials of terror suspects held there.
   
The executive order is one of three expected imminently on how to interrogate and prosecute al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to threaten the United States.
   
A senior Obama aide says the president will sign the order on Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise to shut down a facility that critics around the world say violates domestic and international detainee rights. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not yet been announced.