Congressional negotiators agreed last night not to ban the release of photos of terrorist detainees, after President Barack Obama wrote a five-paragraph letter promising to fight to prevent disclosure.

Many House Democrats wanted the right to release the photos. Senate Republicans and Democrats had voted unanimously to keep them secret.

In his letter, Obama wrote the appropriations commttee chairmen that while he opposed a legislative ban, he could “assure you that I will continue to take every legal and administrative remedy available to me to ensure the DoD (Defense Department) detainee photographs are not released.

“Should a legislative solution prove necessary,” he wrote, “I am committed to working with the Congress to enact legislation that achieves the objectives we share.”

He said, though, he would oppose a legislative ban at the moment so that the bill could move through Congress. Passage of the ban, he said, “would unnecessarily complicate the essential objective of supporting the troops and would accomplish no substantive purpose.” Read the letter.

Another controversy was also resolved with a compromise: for four months, Congress is unlikely to block Obama from ordering detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp into the United States for trial.

By then, Congress hopes Obama will come up with a plan for closing the detention facility.

The crux of the bill is $79.9 billion for the Pentagon to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another $10.4 billion would go to the State Department and other “international affairs and stabilization” efforts in Pakistan.

And $7.7 billion would go to helping ease the flu pandemic, while another $1 billion would be used for the “cash for clunkers” program that will allow consumers to trade in old gas guzzling vehicles for more fuel efficient ones.