WASHINGTON, July 27: The US navy on Friday awarded a 9.7-million-dollar contract to build cells for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a subsidiary of a company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Brown and Root Services, a division of Halliburton Company, is to build the 204 steel-mesh cells — which include a bed, a toilet, and a wash basin with running water — by October, navy officials said.
Cheney, a former lawmaker and defence secretary, was chief executive of Houston, Texas-based Halliburton from 1995 until 2000, when he was tapped to be President George W. Bush’s running mate.
His tenure at the oil services company has been the source of controversy. The securities and exchange commission is investigating certain accounting practices that occurred at Halliburton during Cheney’s time as chief executive.
More than 500 suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters from more than 30 countries are being held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base after being captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan.—AFP
