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CNN Live Sunday

Detainees at Guantanamo Bay Open Up to Muslim Chaplain

Aired February 03, 2002 - 18:12   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: The transfer of detainees to the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba may resume soon. Yesterday, the U.S. military finished construction of a temporary prison camp, and can now more than double its population of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners. Current detainees are opening up to the Muslim chaplain stationed there, and CNN national correspondent Bob Franken has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Probably no one speaks more with the individual detainees than the Muslim chaplain, Imam Abuhena Saif Ul Islam says that some of the prisoners claim they are shocked to hear about the events of September 11.

CAPT. ABUHENA SAIF UL ISLAM, MUSLIM CHAPLAIN: When they find out what happened, they know that it is Islamically wrong. They know that.

QUESTION: Are you getting a sense of remorse, is that what you're saying?

UL ISLAM: Yes.

FRANKEN: Inevitably, the detainees and their American captors communicate, in a variety of ways. For a few, that communication comes at the nearby 20-bed field hospital.

(on camera): We're not allowed to show them, but inside this ward are the seven detainees who are recovering from surgery. They are surrounded by security forces, in their beds, in shackles.

CAPT. PAT ALFORD, FIELD HOSPITAL COMMANDER: There have been a couple of instances where the individuals have said, "thank you." Whether or not there's been any change of attitude or anything beyond that, I really can't speak to that with any accuracy.

FRANKEN (voice-over): Two other detainees are being treated as psychotics, another two for malaria, which medical officials hasten to say they caught in Afghanistan, before they came to Camp X-Ray.

CAPT. AL SHIMKUS, BASE HOSPITAL COMMANDER: Malaria does not exist in Cuba.

FRANKEN: One of the messages that U.S. officials are trying to convey is that many of their prisoners are getting the best medical care they ever had. But all of them, injured or not, can expect intense questioning.

MAJ. STEVE COX, TASK FORCE SPOKESMAN: It is reasonable to say that the detainees here at Guantanamo Bay who have been interrogated have information that is of value to not just the United States but to other nations around the world in the global war on terrorism.

FRANKEN: Home, for now, is a distant dream, as officials try to determine which of these detainees, if any, will ever see home again.

Bob Franken, CNN, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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