AL-QAIDA PRISONERS HEADED TO CUBA Afgha Press Agency Diciembre 27, 2001 Preparations are under way at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to establish a maximum-security facility where U.S. authorities can hold captured al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, NBC News has learned. U.S. Defense Officials say the preparations will not be complete until about mid-January, and officials expect those detainees in which the United States is most interested to be brought to the Navy base. Now, the detainees are being held on board the USS Pelelieu in the Arabian Sea and at the U.S. Marine base at Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan. The Guantanamo base is not accessible without permission from the U.S. military, so it makes a good location outside the United States to hold prisoners, officials said. In the past, both Haitian and Cuban refugees have been held in camps there. Because it is so inaccessible and because it is a secure facility outside the United States, any military tribunals could also be held there.