Pakistan is preparing special cells to house Guantanamo detainees who may be shifted to the country with the US administration under pressure to close down the detention facility on the Cuban island, a news report has said.
A top Pakistani official said a special facility has already been built in Faisalabad, adjacent to Faisalabad Central Prison. Another such facility is under construction in Multan and is expected to be completed within the next few months. Work on a detention center adjacent to Adyala Jail in Rawalpindi has also started.
With the administration under pressure to close the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Pakistan is readying to step in to help its ally in the "war on terror", Asia Times Online said.
These facilities are being funded by the US and will work under the direct jurisdiction of Pakistan Ministry of Interior. Special staff will be deputed to the centers to work in conjunction with US officials, The Post daily reported.
The Bush Administration may take recourse to the new methodology to hold on to the terror suspects as they fear that the joint military prison and interrogation camp may be closed down by the Democrat-controlled Congress.
It was learnt that the US is considering a plan under which inmates would be returned to special facilities in their countries of origin, where they would be treated on a case-by-case basis. There are an estimated 65 or so Pakistanis in Guantanamo, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
In theory, the facilities being built in Pakistan will not be classified as secret and will be subject to the laws of the land, although they will be used only for suspects in the "war on terror". Actual interrogation could be carried out elsewhere, the report said.