18 January 2004	Sunday	25 Ziqa'ad 1424

WASHINGTON, Jan 17: The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday the Pentagon had agreed to accelerate the process of reviewing prisoners for possible release from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said he had yet to see "concrete results" on other concerns he expressed in meetings with three top U.S. officials about the status of the roughly 660 non-U.S. citizens imprisoned at the Guantanamo facility and the conditions in which they are being held.

Kellenberger also said the United States had not yet told the ICRC when it would get access to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, captured by U.S. forces on Dec. 13. The United States announced on Jan. 9 it had formally designated him an enemy prisoner of war, entitling him, among other things, to a visit by the ICRC.

Kellenberger met on Friday with Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz after meeting on Thursday with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The United States two years ago began holding foreign nationals caught in what President George W. Bush calls the global war on terrorism at a specially built detention facility at the Guantanamo base. Most were captured in Afghanistan.

International organizations including the ICRC have accused the United States of condemning the prisoners to a "legal black hole."

Kellenberger visited Washington in May, demanding prisoners be allowed due process of the law and seeking changes at the Guantanamo camp. He said these concerns had not been adequately addressed, expressing disappointment that two years after the first prisoners arrived, they still face indefinite detention beyond the reach of the law.

Using a secretive review process, the United States has released 84 Guantanamo prisoners and sent four others to Saudi Arabia for continued detention.

"Mr. Wolfowitz has told me that they will accelerate the review process of the people in Guantanamo. And this accelerated review process, it would be my hope, could then lead also to a speeding up of the releases," Kellenberger said in an interview.

The ICRC chief said Wolfowitz, Powell and Rice "seemed sincerely receptive to our concerns and challenges."

"But they did not give detailed answers to these requests," Kellenberger said. "I hope now that our dialogue will lead to concrete results."-Reuters