US Admits Holding 10,000 Iraqi Prisoners

"We got an order from the Secretary of Defence (Donald Rumsfeld) to categorise them" about a month ago, she said, but gave few details about who these detainees were.

"We were securing them. We didn’t want people to be confused" about their status, she said.

Asked if they had any rights or had access to their families or legal help while they were being "secured", she said: "It’s not that they don’t have rights … they have fewer rights than EPWs (enemy prisoners of war)."

There were previously some 600 people classified as security detainees, so that category now numbers about 4,400, said General Karpinski.

There are 300 enemy prisoners of war, and about 5,300 criminals or suspected criminals in detention, making a rough total of 10,000, she added.

General Karpinski said that "several hundred third-country nationals" were among the prisoners held on security grounds since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was overthrown in April by US and British forces.

"Six are claiming to be Americans and two are claiming to be from the UK," she said.