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US Takes 32 More Captives to Cuba From Afghanistan
Friday, May 3, 2002
(4:48 PM ET)
By Joe Skipper
Reuters

Items which are given to Afghan detainees are displayed at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba May 1, 2002. Thirty two detainees arrived later in the day, bringing the total to 332 at the new Camp Delta.
Personal note: I don’t think the shackles are actually “given” to the detainees.
Image Credit: Reuters.

None of the prisoners has been charged with a crime but the Pentagon has left open the possibility that at least some will face military trials authorized by President Bush in connection with Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks on America.

U.S. NAVAL BASE, Guantanamo -- Reuters
The U.S. military flew 32 more al Qaeda and Taliban captives from Afghanistan to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday, bringing the prisoner population there to 363, U.S. officials said.

As the C-141 plane carrying the prisoners touched down on the runway, four Humvees carrying .50-caliber machine guns surrounded it and heavily armed Navy helicopter hovered above.

With troops in riot gear standing watch and a German shepherd dog patrolling a few yards away, security troops led the prisoners off the plane, patted them down and searched them for contraband. They led them onto two olive green buses for the ferry trip across the bay to Camp Delta, the new prison camp at the remote U.S. base on Cuba's southeastern shore.

The orange jump-suited prisoners were handcuffed and shackled, their eyes covered by black goggles to prevent them from learning the layout of the base. Their heads were shaved and their mouths covered with turquoise surgical masks to prevent the potential spread of respiratory illness. Many of the earlier arrivals have been exposed to tuberculosis, camp doctors said.

It took just under an hour to unload the prisoners from the plane and put them aboard the buses. The process seemed to go smoothly, with none of the prisoners appearing to resist or struggle.
(More: iWon.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan