Prisoners and guards clashed after a detainee's suicide attempt
at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Fox News
televison reported Friday.
The incident took place Thursday when guards were responding to
the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention center, the
report said.
As they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner from
trying to hang himself, the guards were attacked by detainees who
were wielding fans, light fixtures and other improvised
weapons.
Earlier in that day, three detainees in another part of the
prison attempted suicide by swallowing prescription medicine they
had been hoarding.
Detainees who took part in the clash have been moved to
higher-security sections of the prison and those who attempted
suicide received medical treatment.
The incident occurred on the same day the US military
transferred 15 Saudi detainees to their country, leaving about 460
detainees at Guantanamo.
There have been 39 suicide attempts at Guantanamo since the
prison opened in January 2002.
The US opened the prison on its Navy base in Guantanamo in
January 2002, and about 460 prisoners are still being held there.
Only 10 of them have been charged by the military tribunals, and no
verdicts have been issued so far.
(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)
