US reviews Cuba prisoners' rights

The US Cabinet is debating the policy on prisoners

Reports from Washington say a rift has developed in the US administration over the status of al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects held at the American military base in Cuba.

American newspapers say the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is likely to urge colleagues to reconsider the status of the detainees sent to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay.

He is arguing that a case-by-case assessment should be made of whether detainees should be declared prisoners of war, the reports say.

But US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insists they cannot be treated as POWs because they did not belong to an army, or wear distinguishable uniforms and insignia, but were people engaged in attacks on civilians.

The US says it is not mistreating the prisoners

POW status would give them extra legal rights under the Geneva conventions - governing for instance the conduct of any interrogations.

Recognised prisoners of war have to be charged or repatriated at the end of a conflict, and they are expected to give only their name, rank and number when questioned.

US newspapers said the reason for the shift advocated by Mr Powell is that the State Department wants to ensure that any US irregular troops captured would also be covered by the convention.

The Washington Times quotes a memo from President Bush's legal adviser which says that Mr Powell wants Mr Bush to reconsider his 18 January decision to term the prisoners "illegal combatants" - a new term which is unknown in international law.

"Specifically, he has asked that you conclude that GPW - the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War - does apply to both al-Qaeda and the Taleban," the memo from White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales is quoted as saying.

No status

The reports came as Mr Rumsfeld repeated during a visit to Guantanamo Bay that the detainees would not be given prisoner of war status.

I have absolutely full confidence in the way the detainees are being handled and treated

Donald Rumsfeld

He said the purpose of his visit was not to check on the conditions of the prisoners but to thank the American troops presently guarding them.

"I have absolutely full confidence in the way the detainees are being handled and treated," he said.

The American authorities say the detainees are being treated humanely in spite of international criticism of the camp.

British prisoners

The family of one of three British men being held in Guantanamo Bay has called for him to be returned to Britain.

Shafiq Rasul's family says he may have been brainwashed

The family of 24-year-old Shafiq Rasul says he is not an extremist and that they do not believe he had been fighting for the Taleban or the al-Qaeda network.

Mr Rasul was taken to Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan.

The family's lawyer said efforts were already under way to bring him back to Britain.

European detainees

French foreign ministry officials are also visiting the Guantanamo Bay base to investigate reports that French citizens are among the prisoners captured in Afghanistan.

The French newspaper Le Figaro says there are seven French citizens at the US base, the majority born in France to immigrant families, and brought up in the working class suburbs of Paris, Lille and Marseille.

Sweden is carrying out similar enquiries about another young man whose papers show him to be a 22-year-old from central Sweden, of mixed Finnish and Algerian parentage and Swedish nationality.

At least one Dane and several prisoners claiming to be Spanish have also been captured by the American military, but it is not clear whether they are among the prisoners who have been transferred to Cuba.