Guantanamo inmates to get lawyers

The prisoners include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 11 September, 2001 attacks against the US.

They have not had access to lawyers in the year they have been at Guantanamo nor while previously held in CIA jails.

The Pentagon said the 14 had the same chance to challenge their designation as "enemy combatants" as other inmates. Some have been held for several years.

According to the Washington Post newspaper, US officials had argued against allowing the 14 access to lawyers without special security precautions.

They argued in court papers "that attorney-client conversations could reveal classified elements of the CIA's secret detention programme and its controversial interrogation tactics", the paper said.

Military tribunals

The process of giving the "high-value" detainees forms to request representation by lawyers began last month, the Pentagon said.

"Like all other detainees at Guantanamo, the high-value detainees have the opportunity to contest" their status as "enemy combatants", spokesman Navy Cmdr JD Gordon told the Associated Press news agency.

The prisoners were given "personal representatives" when they appeared before review boards earlier this year for hearings to determine if they could be termed enemy combatants.

The classification allows them to be tried before a special military court set up by the US government.

An appeal court ruling earlier this week cleared the way for such tribunals, having overturned a ruling by a military judge in June which questioned their jurisdiction.

Following the appeal court ruling, the Pentagon said it intended quickly to resume military tribunals for enemy combatants.

A series of court challenges relating to Guantanamo Bay has led the Pentagon to change its rules and give prisoners greater access to legal representation.

There are about 340 detainees now at Guantanamo, according to the Pentagon.