GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- In a partial victory for Osama bin Laden's driver, a Navy judge Thursday said defense lawyers should be able to send in questions to alleged senior al Qaeda leaders in secret detention at this base.

He backed down on the offer later in the day -- after a Pentagon prosecutor accused the driver's lawyers of going on a ''fishing expedition'' while the nation was still engaged in the war on terror.

''Your honor, the defense is asking for access to the most notorious terrorists ever seen based on may or likely!'' Army Lt. Col. Will Britt said.

Navy Capt. Keith Allred announced at pre-trial hearings at the war-crimes trial of Salim Hamdan, 36, of Yemen, that his lawyers should be allowed to submit written questions to the seven ''high-value detainees'' held at a secret location at this offshore detention center.

''My sense is that the defense has made an adequate showing of the need to talk to these people,'' he said, before agreeing to reconsider about an hour later. ``The government has made a significant showing of security concerns.''

Hamdan's lawyers want to ask reputed 911 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and six other men held here as dangerous terrorists whether the driver was a member of the al Qaeda inner circle. Or even whether he knew about any of their attacks beforehand.

No defense lawyers have ever gotten access to these high-value detainees who arrived at this base in Sept. 2006 after about three years in secret CIA custody.

Hamdan claims he was just a $200-a-month driver, never joined al Qaeda and never fought anyone. A Hamdan defense lawyer, Harry Schneider, asked the judge to reconsider and let them conduct face-to-face interviews.

Britt, the case prosecutor, scolded the veteran Navy judge that he had not followed war-court rules by considering each request separately.

The CIA had just confirmed that two men on the defense list were waterboarded by agents in secret black site interrogation.

Pentagon officials have resisted the request, saying they are trying to shield the captives from the outside world for fear they will divulge interrogation tactics.

Allred agreed to consider whether to permit lawyers to interview each captive -- either in writing or in person -- and issue a ruling on a case-by-case basis.

The judge seemed surprised at the notion that the U.S. government was seeking to impose a sweeping blackout on all the captives held in an off-limits site on this isolated Navy base, Camp 7.

Was their grounds for resistance ''just because they are high-value detainees and nobody can talk to them?'' the judge asked the five prosecutors. They nodded.

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