January 19, 2002	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 4, 1422

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LONDON, Jan 18: The British government is getting increasingly uneasy about the reports of the United States treatment of suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at the US base in Guantanamo, Cuba, including three claiming to be British.

The reports coming out from the government circles suggest the ministers are caught between concerns over human rights implications and a desire not to have a public row with the US over the issue.

A team of British officials has arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to visit three men claiming to be Britons held by America as Al Qaeda suspects, the Foreign Office said on Friday.

The main task of the team is questioning those detainees who claim to be British and helping the US authorities with legal inquiries into the terrorist atrocities.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said: “The important thing is we want to confirm the conditions in which they are being held but also we believe the US has a right to question the detainees to help prevent further acts of terrorism and anything we can do to help that process we will.”

A Red Cross team is already in Guantanamo Bay to begin interviewing prisoners held at the American naval base in Cuba amid concern over their treatment.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the handling of the suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda soldiers was “reasonably consistent” with the Geneva Convention.