An Australian television station broadcast what it said were previously unpublished images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the facility, fuelling Arab anger against the United States.

"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters in Geneva.

"The type of treatment in these images -- video or photos -- very clearly violates the rules of international humanitarian law which are designed to protect people detained in the context of armed conflict," she added.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions protecting people captured in conflict -- which the ICRC seeks to uphold -- "forbid torture as well as any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under any circumstance," according to the spokeswoman.

The current affairs program "Dateline," on Australia's Special Broadcasting Service, said the images were recorded at the same time as the pictures of U.S. soldiers abusing Abu Ghraib detainees which caused international outrage in 2004.

Some of the images were shown last year at trials in Fort Hood, Texas, including that of abuse ringleader Charles Graner now serving a 10-year prison sentence.

"These images are extremely shocking to us," Krimitsas said.

The ICRC visits prisoners in 80 countries worldwide, assessing conditions of detention and treatment of detainees. It also exchanges messages between detainees and their families.

In a damning report on the treatment of prisoners leaked in 2004, the ICRC spoke of U.S. mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, including keeping them naked for days in darkness, that "in some cases was tantamount to torture."

ICRC officials began visits to detention centers run by U.S. and other multinational forces in April 2003, a month after the invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein.

They have been unable to go to Abu Ghraib since January 2005 due to lack of security, Krimitsas said. "It is unfortunate."

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."


WASHINGTON American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers, as the time in confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States, its allies and the new Iraqi government.

As a result, a number of officers said, they no longer automatically send every suspect rounded up in raids to the prison and instead release those who are thought not to be hardened fighters against the American troops and the Iraqi government.

The perception of the notorious, overcrowded prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen - once a feared dungeon of the old regime, then the center of the storm over abuses of prisoners by the Americans, and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems with how the Americans and the Iraqis alike are handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.

"Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq, explaining the new approach.

"These decisions have to be intelligence-driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," said another American officer in Iraq. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into 'Jihad University."'

Officials at the Pentagon say these concerns have been raised by General George Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the American-run prison system there.

General Gardner has ordered a number of steps to deal with the problem, with the goal of isolating suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population, and of limiting clandestine communications among those in custody.

"We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner.

"Central to our program is a continuous and systemic analysis of the population inside each compound to identify extreme negative influences and corresponding actions to separate the insurgents and extremists from the general population," Colonel Rudisill said. "We also attempt to reduce illicit communications between detainees in separate compounds to disrupt their ability to network and recruit."

The role of Abu Ghraib as a new center of terrorist networking and education is the latest chapter in a sordid history of a prison that once served as a place where the Saddam Hussein regime incarcerated and tortured its political enemies. The prison became internationally known following the release of photographs showing American military jailers abusing Iraqi detainees after the fall of Baghdad.

But plans to turn the detainees, and the detention center, over to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite concerns of American commanders that the detainee mission saps personnel and continues to blot the American image in Iraq and around the world.

After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders of the prisons under American control said that no detainees, nor the centers themselves, will be handed over to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting international standards for care of detainees.

In the meantime, the prison population under American or allied control continues to swell, and stood at 14,767 this week.

At present, Iraqis may be freed from the American-run detention centers only after review by a special panel called the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, American officials said.

The problem of insurgent networking and instruction inside the detention system in Iraq is part of a broader problem in the American counterterrorism effort. American military and intelligence officers say that Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world who want to fight U.S. policies; these American officials also warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle-tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks around the globe.

Although no historic comparison is perfect, some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.

Among those anti-Soviet mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan was Osama bin Laden, whose original Al Qaeda network has been severely disrupted by American military and intelligence operations, but who still is the figurehead and inspiration for more than 30 new terrorist groups that have sprung to life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to senior military officers.

"The opportunity for networking and training inside the detention centers is certainly one that is a concern," said another U.S. officer in Iraq. "That's something the detainee operations people look at closely. They look at behavior of groups inside the camps, and are constantly rotating people around to get the right dynamics - which means lessening the hostile dynamics."

The task of monitoring detainees is made more difficult by the chronic shortage of Arabic speakers available to the American military; it is all but impossible to thoroughly screen private conversations and written communications among all the detainees.

Rudisill said that along with efforts "to mitigate the negative influence of extremists" inside the camps, American officers have launched programs "designed to prepare detainees for potential reintegration into Iraqi society" pending their release.

"Our reintegration program is designed to help prepare those potentially scheduled for release for reintegration back into a different society that includes a freely elected government and increasingly capable Iraqi Security Force," he said.

The program, he said, includes "speeches and presentations provided by prominent community, political and religious leaders, access to objective TV, radio and print media highlighting the changes in Iraqi society, and a sponsorship program directed at integrating released detainees back into their respective communities."

Consider the undisputed facts: 38 Guantánamo prisoners were found innocent, even by biased military tribunals, after being held for three years. At least eight of these conceded innocents are still there. More than 250 prisoners have been released, apparently because they were not a danger to the US after all. For the most part, each has vanished back into the faraway country whence he came. Nobody has asked why President Bush branded them the "worst of the worst" among the world's terrorists, although we now know that no senior al-Qaida officer in US custody was in Guantánamo - they have been held in secret prisons around the world (some in Europe). Five hundred prisoners remain in chains in Guantánamo, many with compelling claims of innocence, yet on December 20 2005, the US Congress passed a law barring their access to any US court.

When we ignore the fact that the Titanic is steaming towards the iceberg, the ship is destined to sink. Thankfully, the media - and in this case the medium of film - occasionally stand in for the public conscience. Instead of an inquiry or a lawsuit, Guantánamo will now go before the jury at the Berlin film festival in Michael Winterbottom's latest work, The Road to Guantánamo (co-directed by Mat Whitecross).

Three young men from Tipton - Rhuhel Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul - were among the victims of Guantánamo. I have been privy to the best evidence that the Americans can throw at them, and their story goes essentially uncontradicted, as it is presented in the film. They went to Pakistan for Iqbal's marriage, just prior to the attack on Afghanistan. When the friends gathered shortly before the wedding, they got caught up in the moment and embarked on a well-intentioned but unwise escapade into Afghanistan to help the victims of the war. They felt this would fulfil their Muslim duty of zakah, or charity.

A couple of days in they recognised the folly of the venture, but getting back out proved more difficult. Recklessness then dissolved into tragedy, as what had originally been the Tipton Four lost a member. Munir Ali disappeared in the crowds. Nobody knows what happened to him, and his family may never know.

The remaining trio were probably betrayed by locals looking to collect on the $5,000 bounty being offered by the Americans for foreigners. They were swept up by Coalition allies, and shuffled into a container that was then machine-gunned by General Dostrum's forces, killing many inside. In American custody they were beaten and abused, before ultimately being dispatched to Guantánamo Bay for two years. In 2004 they were released without charge.

The Road to Guantánamo weaves commentary from the Tipton lads between credible re-enactments of their nightmare. This may be the only inquiry that Guantánamo ever gets. If so, what are the lessons we might learn?

First, that the Tipton lads were, paradoxically, the lucky ones: Munir is presumed dead, and nobody seems to care. Second, the Tipton Three are now free; 500 prisoners in Guantánamo are not. They are free because they are British nationals. Eight British residents remain in Guantánamo, four years into their ordeal, locked up without legal rights. The British government refuses to do anything for these people, although Jamil el Banna has five English children and another, Shaker Aamer, has four; some of these residents had lived here for more than of 20 years. Human rights are for human beings, rather than simply people from Britain, yet Tony Blair negotiated one set of legal rules for British citizens - most favoured nation status - and left the British residents at the mercy of the original Bush plan.

Third, the Tipton Three were extraordinarily lucky that the Americans tried to exaggerate the evidence against them. Virtually everyone in Guantánamo has been accused of visiting the al-Farouq training camp in Afghanistan. Disproving this is difficult. Fortunately the Americans insisted that Ahmed, Iqbal and Rasul not only visited the camp, but appeared on a videotape with Osama bin Laden there. The tape was made in 2000. MI5, setting out to help corroborate the prosecution for a US military tribunal, learned that Rasul was working at a Birmingham Currys at the time.

Finally, Winterbottom's film puts paid to the myth that everyone in Guantánamo is a terrorist, itching to blow up Americans. Given the appalling treatment that many prisoners receive, it is a tribute to their Islamic faith that they do not feel this way. Instead of assaulting the US embassy, Ahmed, Iqbal and Rasul have spent months helping Winterbottom tell the truth.

The film should not be a substitute for a full inquiry, but merely the impetus to get one off the ground. Setting aside what the Americans have done, the British government has been complicit in the seizure and mistreatment of many of the victims of Guantánamo, and the still more secret prisons beyond. Abusing the Tipton Three did not make the world safer for democracy, but it did hold hostage the values our society should hold dear. Until we expose these crimes, and learn what led people to commit them, our world will continue to repeat them.

· Clive Stafford Smith is legal director of Reprieve (reprieve.org.uk). The Road to Guantánamo is at the Berlin film festival today, and will be shown on Channel 4 on March 9.

The film -- completed so recently it had to be screened on parallel spools with sound and image, respectively -- was met with enthusiastic applause at the midday press screening.

Its portrayal of brutal and inhuman treatment at the camp carried a strong message of denunciation, which played well with large sections of the Berlin crowd.

"I think it's a sure, sure winner," one European critic said. But others felt the movie left too many questions about its protagonists' motives unanswered, undermining its supposed veracity.

Winterbottom and co-director Mat Whitecross, along with two of the detainees, Shafiq Rasul and Ruhel Ahmed, were subsequently greeted with cheers at a packed press conference. "We want to show the world what's happening in Guantanamo. We want the place closed down. It's against human rights," the soft-spoken Rasul said.

"Guantanamo" blends interviews with the trio and dramatic reconstructions of their journey and captivity along with archival news footage.

According to their testimony, the conditions captives were forced to endure included being shut into an airless container truck in which many died, being hooded and shackled, kept in cages, spending weeks in solitary confinement, being beaten during interrogations and exposed to deafening rock music while chained in a squatting position for hours on end.

"We had it rough, but we didn't have it as bad as others, for example the Arabs. If you were Arab, you were definitely a member of al-Qaida," Rasul said.

The trio said they initially traveled to Pakistan for a wedding. "The reason we went to Afghanistan was to help the brothers that were in need," said Ahmed, citing education as one of those needs. However, the filmed reconstruction was vague about what exactly had prompted them to travel deep into a country under imminent threat of U.S. bombardment.

The film is based on a month of interviews following their return to the U.K. in 2004. None was ever formally charged, but they have never been officially declared innocent either.

"The point of making the film is to remind people how bizarre it is that somewhere like Guantanamo exists," Winterbottom said. The director refuted the idea that the film unfairly portrayed Americans as the bad guys. "The fact that Americans were behaving badly is not some dramatic device -- it's just what they were doing. If they happen to be bad, it's not the fault of us as filmmakers, it's the fault of the people doing it," he said.

Winterbottom won the Golden Bear here in 2003 for "In This World," a tale about Afghan refugees. "Guantanamo" is being sold in Berlin by U.K. outfit the Works and will be screened on Channel 4 in Britain next month, in advance of an expected U.K. theatrical and DVD release.