Prisoners' mystical belief that freedom takes 3 deaths

MIAMI - The three prisoners found dead at the Guantanamo prison camp yesterday were the first to succeed in committing suicide, but nearly two dozen others have tried to kill themselves behind the razor-wire fences at the remote US naval base in Cuba.

Before the weekend, 23 prisoners had attempted suicide 41 times at the camp, military officials said.

That number did not include hundreds of "self-harm incidents" and "hanging gestures", where detainees cut themselves deliberately or wrapped bedding around their necks.

The three men to die hanged themselves with clothes and bedsheets early yesterday (NZ time).

Guards at the camp in Guantanamo Bay found the two Saudis and one Yemeni in their cells. They were not breathing and attempts to resuscitate them failed.

The deaths threw a fresh spotlight on the camp, which has drawn strong criticism internationally and undermined support for the US war on terrorism that was launched after the September 11 attacks.

Guantanamo holds about 460 foreigners, captured mainly in Afghanistan where the United States have fought the Taleban and al Qaeda.

Amnesty International urged again that the camp be closed.

US officials said there was no indication the Guantanamo suicides were a reaction to Thursday's killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, in a US air raid.

Base commander Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris said the suicides were acts of "asymmetrical warfare" and linked to a "mystical" belief at the camp that it would take the deaths of three detainees for the rest to go free.

The US military said the bodies were being treated "with the utmost respect". The three detainees had previously taken part in extended hunger strikes and been force-fed. They all left suicide notes but no details were made public.

Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch in New York said: "Sadly, suicides like these are entirely predictable when people are held outside the law with no end in sight."

Reports said US President George W. Bush expressed "serious concern".

- REUTERS