The Obama administration has moved swiftly to end controversial US practices to counter terrorism that tarnished America's international reputation and undermined its moral authority.
In one of his first decisions after becoming US president, Barack Obama ordered the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba to be closed within a year, review military trials of suspects, and ban torture and other coercive interrogation methods. He had earlier directed the Defence Department to suspend detainee trials and cease referring any new cases before the review is completed.
Mr Obama also prohibited the CIA from maintaining prisons in Asia, Eastern Europe and other places where detainees could be questioned outside the scope of US military rules and the protocols of the Geneva Conventions, which set standards for humane treatment of prisoners.
The group of al-Qaeda suspects who were being tried, or about to be brought before the military commissions, are alleged to have played a prominent role in the 9/11 attacks or to have been implicated in earlier attacks on US interests abroad, or both. However, most of the 242 men still held at Guantanamo have not been charged, even though they have been detained for years.
US allies and friends in Asia will welcome the steps to end what Mr Obama has called the 'morally wrong' and 'counterproductive' parts of the Bush administration's 'war on terror'. It will make co-operation with the US to curb terrorism easier. It will also foster positive engagement with America generally. This is particularly so for Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Persistent allegations of mistreatment of Muslims detained by the US on suspicion of involvement with the international terrorist network linked to al-Qaeda, the Taleban, Jemaah Islamiah in Southeast Asia, and other affiliated groups, aroused resentment in Indonesia and Malaysia, complicating relations with Washington.
However, implementing the directive to close the detention centre in Cuba is likely to be a difficult and time-consuming process. The key questions facing Mr Obama and his advisers are which detainees to release, where to send them, and where and how to try the remainder.
Unlike conventional prisoners of war, the Guantanamo inmates were not fighting for a state or wearing a regular military uniform. Treated as unlawful enemy combatants by the US, they were captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Indonesia, Thailand and other places. Guantanamo holds detainees from 30 countries. More than 70 per cent are citizens of Middle Eastern and North African nations.