Guantanamo prisoner found dead, US military says

MIAMI: A prisoner was found dead of undetermined causes at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base where war on terrorism captives have been held since shortly after the September 11 attacks.

The unidentified prisoner, whose name and nationality were not disclosed pending notification of family, died on Saturday, according to the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the base in eastern Cuba. He was the ninth captive to die at the detention camp since it opened in 2002.

"While conducting routine checks, Joint Task Force-Guantanamo guards found the detainee unconscious and unresponsive. The guards immediately performed first aid and summoned medical personnel to the scene," the Southern Command said in a news release Monday.

Medics tried to revive him and took him to the base hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the release said. His remains will be returned home after an autopsy, it said.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the death, the Southern Command said.

The detention camp was set up to hold non-American captives suspected of involvement with al Qaeda, the Taliban or other Islamic militant groups after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Of the 779 men held there, 167 remain.

Two of the earlier deaths were from natural causes and six were designated as suicides, most of them by hanging. (Reuters)