Twenty al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees spent a quiet first night in their new home in a grim prison camp in this US Navy base in Cuba, saying prayers and sleeping in their outdoor cells, the camp commander said today.
A British man is among those being held prisoner.
The operation to unload the detainees from the plane after being flown from Afghanistan, escort them to the camp, and pen them in their small, open-air cells went without a hitch, Army Military Police Colonel Terry Carrico said.
"Last night was peaceful. They were in their individual units. There was some conversation but primarily last night, once we issued comfort items and got them in their individual units, they were in prone position sleeping. They were very fatigued," Colonel Carrico said.
The prisoners were the first group of captured fighters to be shipped from Afghanistan.
They have been described by US officials as the most dangerous of the al-Qaeda Islamic militant group.
The prisoners were flown under heavy security from Kandahar 8,000 miles across the globe to this isolated US Navy Base in the southeastern corner of Cuba for an indefinite stay in the specially built prison camp known as "Camp X-Ray."
The 20 detainees are being held in six-by-eight foot chainmail cells, exposed to the elements.
The colonel said Red Cross officials would be allowed to visit the detainees, who have not been granted Prisoner of War status by the US military, which would mean their treatment is governed by the Geneva Convention.
More detainees will be coming to Guantanamo Bay but officials have given no word of when. Camp X-Ray, a temporary facility, will be able to hold more than 200 when it is completed and construction is under way on permanent facilities capable of holding up to 2,000.