News reports in the U.S. quote unnamed military officials as saying the Pentagon has speeded up its process of notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross of the identities of terrorism suspects held at special military detention camps in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The New York Times and the Associated Press reported Saturday the shift in U.S. policy took place earlier this month with no public announcement.
According to the reports, the military has decided to quickly provide the Red Cross with the names of foreign fighters and terrorism suspects held in the two secret detention camps.
Brian Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, downplayed the reports, saying the U.S. military makes every effort to register detainees with the Red Cross as soon as possible after they are captured.