The controversial transfer of prisoners to Camp X-Ray in Cuba has been suspended on the day that US President George W Bush called for nearly $50 billion in additional military spending.
President Bush is seeking the largest increase for the Department of Defence in two decades bringing its annual budget to $2 trillion. He will formally request the extra funding in a submission to Congress on February 4th.
That spending plan will ask Congress to give the Pentagon an increase of $48 billion, bringing its budget within range of $380 billion.
The extra money would give service personnel another pay raise, acquire more precision weapons and build missile defences. "Buying these tools may put a strain on the budget but we will not cut corners when it comes to the defence of our great land," President Bush told the Reserve Officers Association.
Meanwhile, the transfer of Afghan prisoners to Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay has been suspended.
The US Defence Secretary ordered the suspension when it became clear that the facility was nearing its current capacity as construction on expanded facilities rushes ahead.
The Pentagon plans eventually to house as many as 2,000 prisoners at the base. The conditions under which the prisoners are being held has drawn protests from a wide variety of international organisations and governments.
The US military is holding 158 Taliban and al-Qaida detainees in cages and NBC News says they have been stopped because the base is almost full.
The European Union added its voice to demands from British MPs, the Dutch and German governments, Amnesty International and the Red Cross that the detainees be given prisoner-of-war status, subject to the Geneva Conventions.
The EU's external relations commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, said the West risked losing support in the terrorism campaign if it mistreated the prisoners.
PA