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CNN Sunday Night

Number of Detainees in Cuba Is on the Rise

Aired February 10, 2002 - 22:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Camp X-Ray in Cuba, where the number of suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters being detained is on the rise. A new group of detainees arrived over the weekend, and as CNN national correspondent Bob Franken tells us, they'll undergo intense and repeated questioning there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you know, we have 220 detainees at Camp X- Ray right now. We have a capacity to go to 320. So the inn is almost full.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just 100 rooms away from putting up the "no vacancy" sign. And officials say they have become very choosy as they select the ones in Kandahar who will check in here. The priority: Intelligence.

MAJOR STEVE COX, TASK FORCE SPOKESMAN: There's intelligence gathering taking place in a number of ways at a number of places. Certainly it's taking place in Kandahar and certainly it's taking place here.

FRANKEN: And the ones who show intelligence promise are plucked from Kandahar and suddenly find themselves here, to spend a lot of time with the same people. This is a team of the interrogators who have tried to maintain a low profile as they work day and night in these sheds, called the joint interrogation facility, or, of course, the "JIF" in military-speak. The teams include FBI investigators and others from an alphabet of intelligence agencies.

So at all hours the detainees are moved to and from the sheds.

TERRY CARRICO, CAMP X-RAY: We are pretty well moving detainees throughout the day to the JIF. So there is a steady flow over there . Total number in a day I can't really seek to, but we keep them busy.

FRANKEN (on camera): Security forces say it's been frustrating. The commanding general complained that many of the detainees have been interrogated four times and have given four different stories. But officials promise a fifth time, a sixth time, many more times, as these interrogation sheds become the focal point of the relentless search for intelligence.

Bob Franken, CNN, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (END VIDEOTAPE)

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