The decision on granting a hearing challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship is still pending.

The "Washington Times" reports that the U.S. Supreme Court held a private conference Friday morning to discuss whether to take up a lawsuit but it was not on the list of court orders for the day.

According to the "Times" a Supreme Court spokesman said the decision to hear the case will most likely be announced next week.

If four of the nine justices vote to hear the case, oral arguments could be scheduled.

The case, one of several that has been filed over the issue, has been fueled by Internet rumors and stories about the President-elect's birth and heritage.

The Obama campaign has maintained that he was born in Hawaii, has an authentic birth certificate, and is a natural-born U.S. citizen.

Critics, however, say the Obama campaign has failed to produce the authentic birth certificate and has blocked access to that document as well as college transcripts from Occidental College and Harvard.

There have also been reports that Obama's mother may have relinquished her U.S. citizenship by marrying an Indonesian and becoming a naturalized Indonesian citizen.

Another lawsuit filed by a Kentucky man over the issue seeks to have a federal judge review Obama's original birth certificate, which Hawaiian officials say is locked in a state vault.

The issue gained mainstream media attention this week when a citizen's group took out a multiple-day full-page ad in the "Chicago Tribune" asking Obama to release documentation proving he is a natural-born citizen and therefore eligible under the U.S. Constitution to serve as President.