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January 28, 2002



US Defense Chief Visits Guantanamo Detention Camp

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba,to get a firsthand look at the detention camp for Taliban and al-Qaeda members.

Rumsfeld's itinerary for his trip to Camp X-ray at Guantanamo included a tour of the facilities and meetings with military leaders and US troops who are keeping watch over the 158 Afghan war detainees there.

Rumsfeld has asserted repeatedly that the detainees are getting good treatment and refused to grant them war prisoner status.

"They are not POWs, they are unlawful combatants," Rumsfeld told reporters at the US Naval Base. "They will not be determined to be POWs."

Human rights groups and some European countries, including Britain, Germany and France, are upset over the Bush administration's refusal to classify the detainees as prisoners of war, which would give them the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2002)

In This Series
US Denies Guantanamo Detainee Torture Accusations

Britain Wants US to Explain Guantanamo Prisoner Photos

Second Batch of Prisoners Heads for Cuba

US Sends Al-Qaeda Prisoners to Cuba

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