The Obama administration has decided for now to fight any court-ordered release of a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who has been on a hunger strike since February 2007 and now weighs less than 75 pounds, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.

A lawyer for the detainee, a Yemeni named Tariq Ba Odah, has asked a federal judge to order his release because of his “severe physical and psychological deterioration.” The Justice Department asked a judge three times to extend its deadline to respond while the administration deliberated internally about what to say. ...

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