Obama says terror threat has shifted, defends use of drones

   
Obama will lay out a new US policy on Thursday that limits the use of armed drones to times when Americans face an "imminent" threat, administration officials said.   

Obama's policy will make clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of other nations and prefers to capture and detain extremists when possible.   

"America does not take drone strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists. We have a preference to detain, interrogate and prosecute terrorists," a senior administration official told reporters ahead of Obama's address.   

Obama will also reiterate his call for the closure of the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and lift a moratorium on the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, officials said.   

President Obama gave a robust defense of US use of unmanned armed drones and said the threat of terrorism to the United States had shifted since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.    

Obama said he signed a document on Wednesday that codified guidelines for the use of force against terrorists. He also said before drone strikes were taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians would be killed or injured.


REUTERS