http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6739321.htm
Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003
Rumsfeld Says Terror Suspects Will Be Held
MATT KELLY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The United States wants to hold most of the suspected terrorists
at a prison camp in Cuba for the duration of the war on terrorism instead of
trying them before military tribunals, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
said Wednesday.
Rumsfeld said the 660 or so men held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base are
imprisoned not as punishment but "to keep them from going back and
fighting again and killing people." He said most would be held until the
global war on terrorism is over - a fight that Rumsfeld has said could last
years, if not decades.
The defense secretary said he expects some suspects to be tried before
military tribunals but prefers that most continue to be imprisoned
indefinitely.
"Our interest is in not trying them and letting them out," he said
in a question-and-answer session after a speech to the National Press Club.
"Our interest is in - during this global war on terror - keeping them off
the streets, and so that's what's taking place."
The Guantanamo Bay detention center holds prisoners from 42 countries detained
for alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network or the ousted
Afghan Taliban regime that sheltered it. They include three teenagers whom the
military may recommend for release soon.
President Bush has designated six of the men, including two Britons and an
Australian, as possible candidates for military trials. Pentagon prosecutors
still must determine whether any of the six will be charged, and Bush has the
final say over whether they will go to trial, continue to be held, or be
released to other countries.
Rumsfeld said the Defense Department is ready to go ahead with trials if Bush
decides on that option.
"We have the apparatus arranged, ready, and we have a very fine group of
advisers as to how to do it in the event it has to be done," he said.
"But for the moment, we don't have any candidates."
The detentions have caused an uproar in Britain and some other U.S. allies
whose citizens are being held in Guantanamo Bay. After protests from British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and others, the United States agreed that the
British and Australian suspects would not be subject to the death penalty and
would be exempt from some rules their governments found objectionable.
In the United States, groups including the American Bar Association have
condemned some of the same rules, such as one allowing military officials to
eavesdrop on conversations between terrorist suspects and their defense
lawyers.
Human rights groups and countries of detained foreigners also have criticized
the United States for refusing to designate the detainees as prisoners of war
under international treaties.
