The men — an Algerian named Sufyian Barhoumi and a Moroccan named Abdul Latif Nasir — both come from countries that the government has deemed stable enough for repatriations of other detainees in the past. Both were added to the transfer list last year by a parole-like board, but Mr. Carter did not sign off on a repatriation arrangement for them by the deadline.

>On Friday, however, lawyers for the two men filed an “emergency motion” before two judges in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the judges should order their release without any delay as a matter of habeas corpus, lest their clients be imprisoned for at least another four years “because of administrative delays in filing paperwork.”

The habeas motions are here. They argue (in a nutshell) that the detainees' continued detention "is arbitrary and violates U.S. and international law." The cases are before different judges. One judge ordered a response from the Government yesterday, and the other by today. The first judge told the Government to prepare flight arrangements just in case she granted the motion as a matter of equity. Her order is