March 2, 2002	Saturday	Zilhaj 17, 1422

MIAMI, March 1: A hunger strike by nearly 200 Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appeared to be winding down on Friday after US military officials reversed a ban on turbans.

But 73 of the 300 prisoners still refused to eat breakfast on Friday, said a spokesman for the US military’s Southern Command in Miami, which oversees the prison camp operation.

The protest began on Wednesday after guards entered a praying prisoner’s cell and removed his turban, which he had refused to remove. Prisoners had been forbidden to wear turbans because of fears they could be used to conceal weapons.

By lunchtime on Thursday, 190 prisoners were refusing to eat. They staged a 45-minute demonstration, tossing belongings out of their cells and chanting “God is great” in unison. It was the first widespread act of defiance by the Afghan war captives since the United States started shipping them to Guantanamo on Jan. 11.

Marine Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of the prison operation, addressed the detainees through a translator late on Thursday, telling them he had changed the turban policy.

“He basically told them that they could, if they wished, fashion turbans using the materials they had, sheets or towels,” SouthCom spokesman Steve Lucas said. “They would be subject to being searched, because there is a security concern and security is a priority.”

Lucas said the incident resulted from “a misunderstanding.” Guards did not realize the prisoner who refused to remove the turban ignored their orders because he was at prayer, he said.

Lehnert also told the prisoners he would hold weekly briefings to keep them informed about the status of proceedings against them. The camp holds 300 prisoners captured in the US-led war in Afghanistan. Their treatment has drawn criticism from some US allies and human rights groups.—Reuters