High-Calorie Diet Fattens Gitmo Inmates

In this Sept. 20, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a US Department of Defense official, examples of the day's detainee meals sit on display for visitors to observe, at Camp America, which is connected to Camp Delta detention center, Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. Detainees held in Guantanamo Bay have gained an average of 20 pounds (9 kilograms) since arriving at the U.S. prison, where a high-calorie diet is available, an official said Monday. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) (Brennan Linsley - AP)

The facility now holds about 460 detainees, some of them kept for more than four years on suspicion of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban. President Bush recently transferred 14 terrorism suspects, previously held at CIA secret prisons, to Guantanamo.

Citing prison rules, Guantanamo officials wouldn't disclose the identity of their heaviest detainee, but Durand said he now weighs 410 pounds, up from 215 pounds when he arrived in 2002.

Durand said all prisoners, including those held at maximum-security Camp 5, are allowed at least two hours of daily recreation _ the minimum called for by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

However, reporters who visited Camp 5 in September were told the exercise time had been reduced to one hour after the suicides of three detainees in June. During that visit, a "high-value" detainee could be seen walking in circles around a 10-by-18-foot fenced-in "recreation yard."

The exercise time has since been increased to 90 minutes, the commander of the camp guards said, and there were plans to restore the two-hour exercise periods.

The conflicting accounts of prisoners' exercise time highlight a need for neutral monitors to examine conditions and report their findings, said Curt Goering of Amnesty International USA.

"The Army says one thing, camp commanders say one thing and then there's this other information available," he said. "It's really important that someone independent makes that assessment."

A Red Cross delegation arrived at the prison last week for interviews with detainees. The humanitarian organization, which does not publicly release some findings as a condition of its access to prisoners, was hoping to get a first glimpse of 14 top alleged al-Qaida figures and other terror suspects previously locked up in CIA secret prisons.