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U.S. Sorting Out Terror Suspects

Wenesday, May 7, 2003
The Associated Press

Secretary of State Colin Powell in mid-April wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that gives a glimpse into administration discussions of the problem. In what officials have said was a strongly worded letter, Powell cited complaints from allies in his argument that the indefinite holding of foreign citizens undermines efforts to win international cooperation in the war on terror.

WASHINGTON -- AP
American officials are trying to more quickly sort out which terrorist suspects held in a high-security Cuban facility can be set free, officials said Tuesday.

But the planned release of some prisoners this week doesn't necessarily mean officials are getting closer to significantly reducing the prisoner population at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Defense officials said Tuesday that as roughly a dozen inmates are released, more than twice that number of new ones are to be transferred into the facility. It's another illustration that the global war on terror is a long-term undertaking.

Officials on Monday gave conflicting figures on the planned release from Guantanamo Bay - where many have been held since its opening 16 months ago and all are held without charges or access to lawyers.
(More: Military.com)
2003 © The Associated Press.

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