The United States has defended the way it is treating al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners captured in Afghanistan. The first group of 20 prisoners arrived at the American military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba last night. Hundreds more are expected to follow.
The United States Defence Secretary has said Washington does not consider the men to be prisoners of war but unlawful combatants.
Donald Rumsfeld said this status meant they had no rights under the Geneva Conventions, but they would be treated humanely. Mr Rumsfeld said the interrogation of other prisoners had revealed that a number of senior terrorist figures had been killed in American bombing raids in Afghanistan.
