GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cu — Shackled and surrounded by Marines, the first 20 prisoners from Afghanistan the most dangerous of the al-Qaida and Taliban captives arrived Friday at this remote U.S. military outpost on Cuba.
The prisoners face intense interrogation, especially about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden whom the United States holds responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
"These represent the worst elements of the al-Qaida and the Taliban," said Marine Brig. Gen. Mike Lehnert, commander of Joint Task Force 160, which is overseeing the operation.
The prisoners all shackled and wearing turquoise facemasks were taken off the Air Force C-141 cargo plane about an hour after it touched down at 1:55 p.m. EST following the 8,000-mile journey.
The first prisoner off the plane, who appeared to have a bandaged knee, limped as he walked to one of two waiting white school buses.
Several of the detainees appeared to struggle with the 50-plus Marines who led them to the buses. At least one prisoner was sedated on the trip to the base, and two were forced to their knees on the tarmac before being allowed to walk to the buses.
Some of the detainees continued resisting the troops armed with machine guns and automatic assault rifles as they were put on the buses.
"These are people who would gnaw through hydraulic lines in the back of a C-17 to bring it down," Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Lehnert said the prisoners treatment would be "humane but not comfortable," and U.S. officials said the Red Cross and other groups will monitor conditions.
Rumsfeld dismissed complaints by some human rights groups that the heavy security represented a violation of the prisoners' rights.
"It simply isn't," Rumsfeld said. "When prisoners are being moved between locations they're frequently restrained in some way, with handcuffs or some sort of restraints. That is not new."
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