Gibbons joins 24 lawmakers on trip to Cuba

Paisley Dodds

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- The first of three planeloads of U.S. congressmen -- including Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. -- arrived at the Guantanamo Bay detention center today to learn whether captured al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are providing useful intelligence for the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Most of the lawmakers insisted the visit does not aim to examine the issue of whether the prisoners are being treated humanely -- but some delegation members said they would keep an eye on the conditions, a high concern of some U.S. allies.

"Personally, I expect to find conditions suitable for individuals who are quite dangerous and who have made threats against Americans," Gibbons said in a written statement released before his inside-the-prison tour. "These detainees are not average prisoners. They need to be treated as serious threats to our national security and consequently, be held in a high-security area."

Gibbons, a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, is traveling as part of a group of four members of the Intelligence panel. Military officials in Miami briefed them on the trip Thursday night. Gibbons is expected to return to Las Vegas tonight before returning to Washington Tuesday.

Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "This has nothing to do whatsoever with treatment of prisoners. I am not going to get into the debate about the size of holding cells. ... I'm not interested in any of that."

Goss declined to comment when he arrived today in a group that also included Rep. Michael Castle, a Republican from Delaware.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., one of three senators and about 20 House members planning to visit the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, said his "interest is to find out if we are getting information from these terrorist prisoners that will help us prevent further terrorist acts."

But Nelson said he would take note of prisoner treatment at the so-called Camp X-ray.

"I don't have any reason to believe that there is not humane treatment, but I'll be observing everything," he said Thursday.

Some of Washington's staunchest allies continue protesting the possibility that the 158 detainees could be tried by secret military tribunals empowered with the death penalty.

Although President Bush has said the detainees are being treated humanely, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday his government prefers to have three British detainees returned home to stand trial.

Also, Malaysia's government said it was sending an official protest over treatment it considered "inhumane," and Germany called in the U.S. ambassador there to discuss the detainees' treatment.

Australia said it continues to assess the legal position of an Australian detainee, David Hicks, 26, and added there seemed no doubt that Hicks had joined the Taliban.

"POWs are normally held until the war is over," Prime Minister John Howard said today. "I'm not saying he won't come back to Australia. We continue to assess his legal position."

Several governments are demanding the United States give the captives prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Conventions, which rules out trial by military tribunal.