WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The military compiled sufficient evidence to show that all but a few of the 516 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2004-05 were a threat to the U.S., according to a new government report.

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point said in a 39-page report that only six captives posed no risk based on an analysis of the military's publicly available profiles of each detainee.

The Bush administration is under pressure from human rights groups to close Guantanamo and bring the detainees under the U.S. judicial system. If that happens, the Pentagon says, it would have to release most detainees because the military lacks the more stringent evidence needed to win convictions in U.S. courts.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon asked the terrorism center to judge each suspect's threat to the U.S. and issue a public report. The center found that an overwhelming majority, 73 percent, showed a "demonstrated" threat - that is, they were committed to violent jihad or had been involved in planning attacks.

Most of the rest had been in al Qaeda or Taliban safe houses or training centers.

"Safe houses, sometimes referred to as 'guest houses,' facilitate an individual's ability to discreetly transit from one location to another by providing them with a place to spend the night, acquire resources, obtain false documentation or secure modes of transportation," said the report, which was dated July 25. Some had "pocket litter" in the form of huge amounts of American dollars when they were captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

"It's a good report and shows that the people we have at Guantanamo need to be kept under lock and key," said retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, who has toured the prison twice.

Of the 516 detainees reviewed, more than half come from three countries: Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. There are now 360 inmates at Guantanamo, down from a peak of more than 770.

The Pentagon has decreased the prison population by persuading home countries to take back their citizens and place them under restrictions. Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia agreed to take custody of 16 prisoners.

"We don't want to have 'Gitmo' open for eternity," said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman. Gordon said that if the Pentagon closed Guantanamo and placed detainees in the U.S. judicial system, "the great majority would be set free."

"We did not have sleuths on the battlefield running ballistics tests and taking fingerprints on weapons," Gordon said.

rscarborough@dcexaminer.com

Comments from Examiner Readers

8:43 PM MST on Tue., Jul. 31, 2007 re: "Majority of Guantanamo Bay suspects threat to U.S., says report"

Examiner Reader said:
So, the majority of the prisoners would be freed.. don't we have enough evidence to convict them? Would we really have imprisoned them for years if we didn't?

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