U.S. Says Al Qaeda Prisoners May He Taken to Guam

Updated: Fri, Nov 23 9:55 PM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it might use the western Pacific island of Guam to lock up members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network who are captured in Afghanistan.

Air Force Lt. Col. Marcella Adams, spokeswoman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, said no final decision had been made concerning where to house al Qaeda or other prisoners from Afghanistan before they face formal charges.

"Guam is a consideration," Adams said by telephone. "But right now it's just a consideration. And we don't discuss a whole lot of future operations."

The U.S. Pacific Command oversees American military forces in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

Asked about reports that America Samoa or the Mariana Islands also were under consideration as potential locations for prisoners from Afghanistan, Adams said she "hadn't heard anything about American Samoa or the Marianas."

The United States is waging war in Afghanistan against the Taliban militia and its allied al Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

-- Anonymous, November 25, 2001