Lawyers acting for British detainees at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba yesterday
stepped up pressure for their release and attacked Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, for
saying that they could be repatriated only on condition that they were prosecuted here.

Gareth Peirce, who is acting for the families of Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, both from Tipton in the West
Midlands, accused Mr Rumsfeld of "horsetrading with human beings".

She said the prisoners were being unlawfully detained and there was growing evidence that they had
been interrogated in a vulnerable and distressed state. Mr Rasul's family had received a letter saying he
had lost three stone in weight. Foreign Office consular officials agreed at a meeting in London last week
that he was "very thin", she said.

The FO admitted that it did not know on what basis five British prisoners were being held at Camp X-Ray
in Cuba, Ms Peirce said. It also did not know in what circumstances they had been captured in
Afghanistan.

Mr Rumsfeld told the Daily Telegraph that he would send the prisoners back provided they were dealt
with by the British courts rather than "simply turning them loose, putting them back out on the streets
and having them go get more aeroplanes and flying into the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre
again".

The US would demand "a chance to go back and interrogate" them, Mr Rumsfeld added.

Other detainees kept at the base could be tried by military commissions. Asked whether they would face the death penalty, Mr Rumsfeld replied: "Oh, sure."

The US describes the detainees as "unlawful combatants", not prisoners of war. According to the Geneva conventions, in cases of doubt the status of detainees should be decided by an independent tribunal.

It emerged yesterday that the first letter home from a Briton held in Camp X-Ray was marked "prisoner of war mail".

Feroz Abbasi's brief message of reassurance sent to his mother in Croydon, south London, was a
surprise, said London-based lawyers acting on his behalf.

Solicitor Louise Christian said: "This is very important, because if they are being recognised as prisoners
of war they should be released immediately, as hostilities have now ceased."

The 22-year-old's handwritten letter, the first from a Briton held in high security at Guantanamo Bay,
arrived on Thursday. Today, his mother, Zumrati Juma, is to make a public statement demanding that
lawyers and medical experts be allowed immediate access to prisoners at Camp X-Ray. Her appeal is
backed by the Law Society.

· The British-born chief suspect in the kidnap and murder of reporter Daniel Pearl could go on trial in front
of an American military tribunal, Mr Rumsfeld said yesterday. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh has
confessed to playing a part in the kidnapping of the 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter, whose
murder was confirmed last week.

Mr Rumsfeld said Mr Saeed, who is from Wanstead, east London, and dropped out of the London School
of Economics before becoming an Islamic militant in Pakistan, met all the criteria for going on trial in
front of an American military tribunal. The American Department of Justice is reportedly moving to
extradite Mr Saeed from Pakistan.

Mr Rumsfeld told NBC's Meet the Press programme: "He certainly is someone that has committed a
crime against an American and would be someone that I assume that our law enforcement people would
extradite."

Police in Afghanistan revealed that they are searching for three Arab nationals believed to have played a
part in the kidnapping and murder. 

                        The mother of a British Taliban suspect held in Camp X-Ray is
                        demanding immediate legal representation for her son.

                        Nurse Zumrati Juma also called for independent medical
                        experts to have access to Feroz Abbasi and other inmates at
                        the Guantanamo Bay prison.

                        The Law Society is backing her call, which was being made at
                        the group's central London headquarters.

                        "We are losing patience with the efforts of British diplomats on
                        behalf of the captives and want more urgent action to be taken,"
                        said a spokesman for the society.

                        The call comes after Ms Juma received a letter from her
                        22-year-old son on an official US military document marked
                        "prisoner of war mail", despite the American government's
                        insistence that the Camp X-Ray captives are unlawful
                        combatants.

                        The brief message of reassurance sent to Ms Juma, of
                        Croydon, south London, was a "surprise", say lawyers acting
                        on his behalf.

                        Solicitor Louise Christian says it suggested the military were
                        treating him as a POW despite the US government's claims
                        that the detainees were denied this status.

                        "This is very important, because if they are being recognised as
                        prisoners of war they should be released immediately as
                        hostilities have now ceased."

                        The handwritten letter arrived on Thursday. It read: "Dear
                        Family, I am putting my trust in Allah that he has been keeping
                        you all healthy and well. I am fine and love you all very much.
                        Please do not worry about me. Feroz."

                        Four other Britons are being held by the US at the Guantanamo
                        Bay Naval Base. They are named as Jamal Udeen, 35, from
                        Manchester, and Ruhal Ahmed, 20, Shafiq Rasul, 24, and Asif
                        Iqbal, 20, all from Tipton in the West Midlands.

                    GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE,
                    Cuba (AP) - Red Cross workers visited the
                    fortified camp where the U.S. military is
                    holding al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners,
                    questioning them about their treatment in the
                    first such inspection by independent experts.

                    While the four-member team from the
                    International Committee of the Red Cross
                    met with prisoners Friday, human rights
                    groups insisted the inmates should be
 classified as prisoners of war to give them greater legal protection.

 The delegation includes a physician, an expert on prison conditions and
 a linguist who speaks several languages, including Arabic. They met
 with military officials before visiting the prisoners' compound.

 ``We look forward to a cooperative relationship with them,'' said
 Marine Maj. Steve Cox, spokesman for a task force overseeing the
 detention camp.

 The team arrived Thursday for what was expected to be a weeklong
 visit at this U.S. base in eastern Cuba. Cox said the ICRC ``will
 maintain a presence here for the duration of the operation,'' perhaps
 rotating in other observers.

 Interviews were to be voluntary and include questions about the
 prisoners' health, detention conditions and treatment. It was unclear
 how many detainees were questioned Friday.

 Human rights advocates have complained the prisoners are kept in
 inhumane conditions - such as cells they consider too small - and are
 pressing the U.S. government to classify the captives as prisoners of
 war, which would invoke specific protections under the Geneva
 Conventions.

 ``The question of legal status is not just an academic question, it is a
 question of life and death,'' said Avner Gidrone, senior policy adviser
 for Amnesty International. ``If the intention is for the United States to
 try these prisoners through a military commission, it would almost
 certainly carry the death penalty, would not meet international
 standards and would violate standards of due process.''

 The London-based group says the camp's open-air, chain-link cells -
 8-by-8 feet - are too small.

 Britain's Foreign Office said Friday a small team of British diplomats
 was visiting detainees who claim to be British. A spokesman said the
 delegation was checking their treatment and assisting U.S. authorities
 ``with legal inquiries into the terrorist atrocities.''

 Officials have said three people claiming to be British are among the
 detainees. British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) has said
 the prisoners are ``very dangerous people,'' but insisted they must be
 treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

 As Canadian troops deploy alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan (news
 - web sites), Canada's deputy prime minister said Saturday that the
 United States should treat al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners humanely.

 ``Of course, prisoners need to be treated in accordance with humane
 norms and international law. And we expect the United States will do
 so,'' John Manley said in Islamabad, Pakistan.

 The temporary camp, which now holds 110 detainees, will soon be
 able to hold 320, or more if they are housed two to a cell. Workers
 also are building a permanent prison for up to 2,000.

 Nathalie de Watteville, deputy head of the ICRC in Washington, said
 the team's findings would be shared with U.S. officials, but would likely
 remain confidential.

 The United States, which maintains the prisoners are being treated
 humanely, reserves the right to try them on its own terms and is not
 calling them prisoners of war.

 Under the Geneva Conventions, POWs must be tried by the same
 courts and under the same procedures as U.S. soldiers. Under that
 status, prisoners would be tried for war crimes through courts-martial
 or civilian courts but not by military tribunals.

 U.S. officials say no interrogations have begun, and it is unclear
 whether prisoners will be allowed legal advice should that occur.

 The prisoners, their hair and beards shaved off, spend their days eating,
 praying and sometimes walking with guards inside the camp,
 surrounded by three fences topped by razor wire.

 ``They're being treated really good,'' said Spc. Adrion Christoper, a
 medic at the camp from Salisbury, Md. ``A lot of times, these guys eat
 before we do.''

 The United States is still holding more than 300 prisoners in
 Afghanistan, at the Marine base at Kandahar airport, and a few others
 elsewhere.

 U.S. troops seized Guantanamo Bay in 1898 during the
 Spanish-American War and have remained ever since despite
 opposition from the Cuban government. Cuba, however, has not
 opposed holding the prisoners on its soil.

 On the Net:  http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil      Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org
                         Geneva Convention: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/91.htm

MIAMI (Reuters) - International Red Cross monitors hope to interview each Taliban
 and al Qaeda prisoner sent from Afghanistan (news - web sites) to the U.S.
 Navy (news - web sites) base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to ensure
 they are treated humanely, an agency official said on Friday.

 A four-person team from the International Committee of the Red Cross
 arrived at the isolated base on the eastern tip of Cuba late on Thursday
 to inspect the prison camp and conduct intensive interviews expected to
 last into next week.

 Human rights groups accused Washington of treating the prisoners
 inhumanely after they were brought shackled and blindfolded from
 Afghanistan aboard military transport planes.

 The first detainees landed a week ago, and with the arrival of a fourth
 group on Thursday there were 110 prisoners at the camp by Friday,
 when the ICRC team started work.

 ``The program will last for as long as there are people detained,'' Kim
 Gordon-Bates, an ICRC spokesman in Washington, told Reuters. ``As
 long as there are people detained we will do our jobs.''

 The prisoners were captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan that
 ousted the Taliban rulers accused of protecting Osama bin Laden (news
 - web sites) and the al Qaeda network. Washington accuses bin Laden
 of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States that killed
 more than 3,000 people.

 PERMANENT FACILITIES TO BE BUILT

 The prisoners are being locked in cage-like cells measuring 6-foot by
 8-foot, with roofs and floors but open chain-link walls, until permanent
 holding facilities are completed at the camp.

 The United States has denied the detainees prisoner-of-war status,
 which would grant them certain rights under the Geneva Convention.
 But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said they were being treated
 humanely and held ``in an environment that is a lot more hospitable than
 the environments we found them in.''

 Both the ICRC and United Nations (news - web sites) human rights
 chief Mary Robinson have said they consider the captives to be
 prisoners of war.

 The Red Cross team will inspect the cells, meet with the camp
 commander and assess the meals and medical care.

 ``We'll be looking at the food, the calorie content, the quality, the
 cultural conditions,'' Gordon-Bates said. ``We will be looking at
 everything.''

 ``We have to talk individually with each detainee, if of course the person
 wishes,'' he added.

 The interviews will take about an hour each, longer if there are
 translation problems. With 110 prisoners at the camp, the current visit
 will last ``well into next week,'' and other Red Cross teams will visit the
 camp as needed, he said.

 Gordon-Bates said no restrictions had been placed on the Read Cross
 team, other than routine security precautions.

                                 MAIL DELIVERY

 The team also will offer to deliver mail and messages for prisoners who
 want to communicate with close relatives, Gordon-Bates said.

 A spokesman for the U.S. military's Southern Command in Miami,
 which runs the operation, said the captives are allowed to write letters,
 presumably screened for security reasons.

 They are given paper and pencils but must return the pencils when they
 finish writing ``to keep the pencils from being used as weapons,'' said
 Capt. Tom Crosson, a Southern Command spokesman.

 U.S. officials consider the prisoners dangerous and possibly suicidal,
 and said some had made clear after reaching Guantanamo that they still
 ``want to hurt and kill Americans.''

 The ICRC will keep its findings confidential but will report its findings to
 U.S. authorities.

 A team of British officials also arrived at the prison camp late on
 Thursday to visit three detainees who claim British citizenship.

 Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s official spokesman said the delegation would ``help the
 process of identification, report on the welfare of the British detainees and help U.S. authorities with
 their legal inquiries.''

 Neither U.S. nor British officials have released the names of the British prisoners or said where they
 came from. The Australian government also has confirmed that an Australian is among the prisoners.

 Blair, Washington's staunchest ally in its Afghan campaign, has dismissed all criticism of the handling of  the prisoners.

 ``The United States ... has repeatedly said that they will treat these prisoners humanely,'' Blair's
 spokesman said.

 Meanwhile, in Washington a senior official said the U.S. military planned to quickly move six Algerians
 who had been detained in Bosnia since last October to the Guantanamo base.

 The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo said earlier that Bosnian authorities had handed over to U.S. custody
 the six, who were detained on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
 

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