Rumsfeld kept inmate 'secret'

2004-06-17 10:02

Washington - US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld late last year ordered a member of the Ansar al-Islam militant group captured in Iraq be held in secret, in possible violation of international law, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

The prisoner was captured in Iraq in July and flown by the Central Intelligence Agency to an undisclosed location outside the country for interrogation, NBC reported, citing unnamed Pentagon officials.

The prisoner was returned to Iraq four months later after the US Justice Department suggested it might be illegal to hold him outside the country.

Rumsfeld then ordered the prisoner be held "off the books," hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross, NBC said. He is still being held incommunicado, NBC said.

In the military's own investigation into prisoner abuse, Major General Antonio Taguba said efforts to hide prisoners from the Red Cross were, "deceptive" and a "violation of international law."

Pentagon officials told NBC keeping prisoners in secret is legal if they pose an immediate threat. They said Rumsfeld did not break any laws, but admitted the law could be interpreted in other ways.

- AFP