Hunger strike at Guantanamo continues; Three detainees have not eaten for more than a week

<br>GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) _ More than two dozen detainees at this U.S. base refused meals Saturday in a lingering protest over their indefinite detention, with three of them not having eaten

Sunday, March 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) _ More than two dozen detainees at this U.S. base refused meals Saturday in a lingering protest over their indefinite detention, with three of them not having eaten for more than a week, military officials said.

Among the 300 captives from the war on terrorism held at Guantanamo Bay, 27 skipped breakfast and 26 refused lunch, said Marine Capt. Eric Dent, a military spokesman.

Among that group, three had not eaten since at least March 1, he said.

The number of men who refused dinner Saturday was not immediately available.

The number of detainees refusing food has dropped steadily from a high of 194 shortly after the protest started Feb. 27.

Dent said the military had administered intravenous drips to 20 prisoners suffering from dehydration or undernourishment.

The hunger strike began after guards stripped an inmate of his turban, but participants have told their captors their primary motivation is wanting to know their fates.

The military says the captives now held in the temporary compound of Camp X-ray include fighters of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network, believed responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, and the fallen Afghan Taliban regime that harbored it.

U.S. officials are determining whether and how to prosecute the men, and say those not tried by a military tribunal empowered with the death penalty could be prosecuted in U.S. courts, returned to their home countries for prosecution, held indefinitely or released outright.