Al-Qaida inmates make death vow

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- Several al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners have vowed to kill an American during their time at this remote U.S. military base, officials said Wednesday.

Fifty detainees are being held at the facility and 30 more were to arrive on a plane from Afghanistan later Wednesday, said Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of U.S. Joint Task Force 160 overseeing the operation in Guantanamo Bay.

"These are not nice people," Lehnert told a news conference at an aircraft hangar on the base in eastern Cuba. "Several have publicly stated here their intent to kill an American before they leave Guantanamo Bay. We will not give them that satisfaction."

Lehnert said none have been interrogated yet and it was unclear when or if they would be offered legal advice.

"They spend their days praying, meditating, eating," he said.

The temporary detention center can hold 100 inmates but will be expanded to hold more than 600 while builders complete a permanent facility that can hold 2,000 detainees.

Lehnert said the prisoners were being treated humanely and a team from the international Red Cross would inspect conditions Thursday. He showed reporters a foam cot the prisoners were given to sleep on and plastic bags of rations that included breakfast bagels, fruit and beef stew.

Humane treatment

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Wednesday President Bush was satisfied with the prisoners' treatment.

"It is humane; it is respectful," he said. "The president is satisfied that they are being treated as Americans would want people to be treated."

Doctors on the base performed surgery on a prisoner whom they said had been shot about a month ago in Afghanistan, the military said in a statement earlier Wednesday.

The surgery was performed Sunday on the man's upper right arm. The prisoner was expected to regain motion in his elbow and shoulder but may have limited mobility in his wrist due to nerve damage.

It was unclear whether the man had been shot during the conflict in Afghanistan or in detention before being sent to Cuba.