Red Cross to visit new Guantanamo inmates next week

GENEVA, Sep 7 (Reuters) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today said it planned next week to visit the 14 terrorism suspects switched from secret CIA-run jails to the Guantanamo Bay prison.

The Geneva-based humanitarian agency said it had received assurances from Washington, which made the announcement about the detainees yesterday, that the visit would take place on the usual terms and that it would be able to speak to the prisoners in private.

''It will be next week,'' ICRC spokeswoman Antonella Notari told Reuters, referring to the timing. ''We were assured that the terms would be in accordance with our standard practices,'' she added.

US Navy Rear Adm Harry Harris, commander of the prison camp, said the 14, who arrived from undisclosed locations on Monday at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, were placed in military control and have been registered with the ICRC.

''They arrived safely, and all appeared to be in good condition,'' Harris told reporters at the Pentagon by telephone from Guantanamo.

''They are being in-processed like any other detainee who arrives at Guantanamo. They've undergone a physical and dental examination and will be issued the normal items provided to all detainees,'' Harris said.

'GOOD FIRST STEP' The 14 include the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two other al Qaeda leaders, Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman described them as ''some of the world's most dangerous and vicious individuals.'' Harris declined to say whether the 14 men are being held in isolation or even whether they are being segregated from the rest of the Guantanamo detainee population, which the Pentagon said numbers ''approximately 460.'' Whitman said President George W Bush has designated them as eligible for military trials on potential war crimes charges.

The ICRC, which has long been pressing for access to all suspects held in the US war on terrorism, welcomed the decision to send the 14 to Guantanamo. It had no information on where they had been held previously.

''It is a good sign to transfer them out of undisclosed places of detention,'' Notari said. ''It is a good first step.'' The United States previously refused to admit the existence of the secret CIA prisons.

Harris said the 14 detainees will be treated humanely, with adequate food, shelter and clothing, the opportunity to worship, access to the Koran, the ability to send and receive mail and proper medical care.

Whitman said they would be given lawyers if they are formally charged with crimes.

The United States has long been criticized by rights groups over the Guantanamo Bay camp, which it opened in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects.

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