US NAVAL BASE AT GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan, 27: The United States expects to decide this week on the legal status of prisoners captured in Afghanistan, but has ruled out treating them as prisoners of war, senior US officials said Sunday.

“They are not PoWs. They will not be determined to be PoWs,” Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

A decision on the prisoners’ status is expected after administration officials meet to discuss the issue, said General Richard Myers, chairman of the US military joint chiefs of staff.

Rumsfeld and Myers arrived at this isolated US outpost on Cuba’s southern coast about 11:10am (1610 GMT) to visit the camp where 158 captured Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters are being held as “unlawful combatants” under extremely tight security. Conditions in the camp and the prisoners’ legal status have been a concern to many governments and international organizations, some of whom have called for them to be considered as PoWs under the Geneva Conventions.—AFP