U.S.: 3 Gitmo Inmates Hanged Themselves

A detainee looks into the window of a cell at Camp 4 inside of the maximum security prison Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson, Pool, FILE) (Mark Wilson - AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Three Guantanamo Bay detainees hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes, the commander of the detention center said Saturday.

They were the first reported deaths among the hundreds of men held at the base in Cuba _ some of them for up to 4 1/2 years and without charge.

Two men from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen were found "unresponsive and not breathing in their cells" early Saturday, according to a statement from the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which has jurisdiction over the prison. Attempts were made to revive the prisoners, but they failed.

"They hung themselves with fabricated nooses made out of clothes and bed sheets," Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris told reporters in a conference call from the U.S. base in southeastern Cuba.

Pentagon officials said the three men were in Camp 1, the highest maximum security prison at Guantanamo, and that none of them had tried to commit suicide before.

That camp was also the location where two detainees tried to commit suicide in mid-May, when a riot broke out at the facility. The two men, who took overdoses of an anti-anxiety medication they hoarded, were found and received medical treatment and were recovering.

The United States is holding about 460 men on suspicion of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban at Guantanamo Bay, which has become a sore subject between President Bush and U.S. allies who otherwise are staunch supporters of his policies.

The Pentagon also postponed the military tribunal of Binyam Muhammad, an Ethiopian detainee, originally scheduled for next week. Muhammad is charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders to attack civilians and commit other crimes.

Bush, who was spending the weekend at Camp David, was notified of the incident. The State Department was consulting with the governments of the home countries of the three prisoners, whose names were not released.

The military said in its statement that "all lifesaving measures had been exhausted" in the attempt to revive the detainees. The remains were being treated "with the utmost respect," an issue important to Muslims. A cultural adviser was assisting the military.

Though the military termed the deaths suicides, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was investigating to establish the official cause and manner of death.

A U.N. panel said May 19 that holding detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo violated the world's ban on torture. The panel said the United States should close the detention center.