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CNN Saturday Morning News

White House Defends Refusal to Grant Detainees POW Status

Aired February 09, 2002 - 08:30   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the treatment of those Afghan war detainees in Cuba. Following President Bush's refusal to grant them prisoner of war status, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is defending the move under some heavy international criticism.

Our Bob Franken now joining us on the line from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with the latest developments -- hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

And what they're dealing with here is less the designation of POW than they are the fact that the president's order would also have them differentiate here between Taliban detainees, as they prefer to call them, and those from al Qaeda. And that's a practical problem. As a matter of fact, a spokesman for the security force here said at the moment it's not "completely practical at this time," saying that they are blended in. All of them wear uniforms, that is to say, the orange jumpsuits. And at the moment we know of no plan for them to designate the A or the Q on the uniform for the al Qaeda and then a T for Taliban.

They're trying to figure out what to do. They say that it's going to be phased in. They do point out that Camp X-Ray, which is this camp with open cells, is a temporary facility. There is a plan, once Congress approves, to construct a modular building which will be the more traditional maximum secure penitentiary with cell blocks. And at that time they could come up with some way to identify which detainees were which and put them, perhaps, in separate cell blocks and give them, if the order continues to be carried out, give them different treatment.

Now, we're told that another plane load has left Kandahar and is on its way here. In all probability, that plane load will put the number of detainees over 200 here. There are 320 cells. They are expected to fill quickly. The officials here say they could, if they had to, double up in those cells, but I should point out that the outdoor cells that have caused such a controversy are only eight feet by eight feet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bob, do you have a sense of how much intelligence they're picking up in the interviews with these detainees?

FRANKEN: Well, I am aware that the secretary of defense said that they were getting information and the reaction here has been what is he going to say, they're not getting information? They are not willing to say here that they've gotten a lot of information. They always stop short of that.

I will tell you that as much as the different interrogators have not tried to be public, we have seen people who we've been able to identify as FBI criminal investigation people, intelligence people, etc., etc. They are all interrogating them. One of them told me they're using different techniques. It's a very slow process since translators are involved. So they're probably getting what they believe to be preliminary information, but nobody here is talking as if he's gotten anything that is really a breakthrough.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken at the place they call Gitmo, thank you very much.

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