Washington ? President Bush has designated six prisoners to become the first terrorism suspects who could be tried before military tribunals, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

Officials refused to identify the six suspects being held in U.S. custody. All are believed to be either members of the al-Qaida terrorist network or otherwise involved in terrorism, said two Pentagon officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity late Thursday.

Some of the six may have attended terrorist training camps and some were involved in raising money and recruiting for terrorist groups, the officials said. Under Bush’s order creating the military tribunals, only people who are not U.S. citizens can be subject to such trials.

The next step is for a chief prosecutor to draft charges against any or all of the suspects.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz will then make a separate decision on whether the suspects will actually face trials by what the Pentagon calls military commissions.

The United States might not publicly identify the suspects even if they go to trial, a senior Defense Department official said. None of the officials who discussed the matter Thursday would say where the suspects are, though all are in U.S. custody.

Australian detainee David Hicks, who is being held at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, likely will be one of the six, said his lawyer, Stephen Kenny.

Kenny said he did not know why the 26-year-old Hicks was chosen. “Whether (it is because) he is one of the most dangerous men in Guantanamo Bay, we would say that is extremely unlikely,” he said. “It could be that he is someone who has attracted publicity.”

Hicks, a Muslim who fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army, called his parents 17 days after the Sept. 11 attacks to say he was with the Taliban. He also allegedly threatened to kill an American upon his arrival at Guantanamo, U.S. officials said.

Unlike traditional criminal trials, the proceedings of military tribunals can be kept much more secret. The United States has not convened such a tribunal since World War II.