The Red Cross has interviewed 14 top al-Qaeda prisoners at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba including the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks.
By
AFP

Source:
AFP
13 Oct 2006 - 12:00 AM  UPDATED 22 Aug 2013 - 12:18 PM

According to a Pentagon spokesman, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross had access to the 14 high value detainees just like all the other detainees.

The 14, who were transferred to Guantanamo September 5 after the closure of the CIA's secret prisons, include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gordon said the interviews were conducted invidually.

He would not say when they occurred, how long they lasted, or whether the ICRC has raised any issues with authorities at the Guantanamo detention center.

The interviews began after the prisoners went through a 30-day "orientation" after their arrival at the detention center which is located on a US naval base on the southeast tip of Cuba.

It was unclear whether the prisoners have separated from each other or from the roughly 450 other detainees being held as enemy combatants at the facility.

"They are in a secure and modern facility under the control of Joint Task Force Guantanamo," Gordon said, referring to the military unit that runs the detention operations.