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This is an archive article published on January 3, 2005
US plans long term for terror suspects
US officials are preparing long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists whom they do not want to set free or turn over...
Written by DANA PRIEST
Washington | January 3, 2005 12:00 AM IST
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2 min read
US officials are preparing long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists whom they do not want to set free or turn over to courts in the US or other countries, according to intelligence, defence and diplomatic officials.
The Pentagon and the CIA have asked the White House to decide on a more permanent approach for potentially lifetime detentions, including for hundreds of people now in military and CIA custody whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge.
8216;8216;Since global war on terror is a long-term effort it makes sense for us to be looking at solutions for long-term problems,8217;8217; said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.
The outcome of the review, which also involves the State Department, would also affect those expected to be captured. A senior official said the current detention system has strained relations between the US and other countries. 8216;8216;Now we can take a breath.8217;8217; One proposal under review is the transfer of large numbers of Afghan, Saudi and Yemeni detainees from the military8217;s Guantanamo Bay detention centre into new US-built prisons in their home countries.
The prisons would be operated by those countries but the State Department, where this idea originated, would ask them to abide by recognised human rights standards, the official said.
The Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, plans to ask Congress for 25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold the detainees.
8212;LAT-WP
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