Judge to consider treatment of al-Qaida suspects

A US judge has agreed to consider a petition challenging the detention of al-Qaida suspects at a US military base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The petition, which demands that the US Government defines the charges against the men, was filed at the US District Court in Los Angeles.

The judge will have to decide if his court has jurisdiction over the prisoners held in Cuba and if the petitioners, who are all from Los Angeles, have legal standing to pursue the case.

The action is supported by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and other civil rights activists.

The petition was prepared on behalf of around 110 al-Qaida suspects who were arrested in Afghanistan and transferred to Cuba, where they are in legal limbo and do not qualify for rights under US law.

The petition claims the men are being held in violation of the Geneva Convention and the US Constitution.

The US Government has refused to give the detainees prisoner of war status, which would make it illegal for the US security services to interrogate them.

The US has instead described the men as "unlawful combatants", a term which is not recognised by the Geneva Convention.

Under the convention, the US is obliged to establish a "competent" tribunal to determine the status of the suspects and is expected to treat them as POWs until such a tribunal can deliver a ruling.