The United States does not consider the al-Qaeda members being detained at its naval base in Cuba as prisoners or war, said US ambassador to Malaysia Marie T Huhtala today.

"They are not representatives of a government we were at war with. They don't fall under the definition of the prisoners of war," she told reporters after attending a function in Kuala Lumpur.

However, she stressed that the US will treat the prisoners in a humane manner.

The envoy was responding to a call by human rights watchdog Amnesty International asking the US to apply the Geneva Convention on the prisoners.

Huhtala also explained that the 158 prisoners were being held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base because the US wanted to extract information from them in a condition which is safe.

"These (the prisoners) are some of the worst members. These are people who are intimately involved in the act of terrorism.

"We think they probably know a lot about acts of terrorism than they are telling us," she said.

Meanwhile, the ambassador also said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had visited the prisoners and made some recommendations to the US government.

The US government is working closely with the ICRC, she added.

'Illegal combatants'

Washington was slammed by various groups for classifying the detainees as "illegal combatants" rather than prisoners of war who are entitled to Geneva Convention rights.

Under the Convention, prisoners should not face demeaning or humiliating treatment and should have freedom to exercise their religious beliefs.

The Convention also allows prisoners to offer only name, rank and serial numbers during interrogation.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported as saying that the Malaysian government will also send a protest letter to the US on this matter.

The premier said Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar has been asked to send the letter but Huhtala said she has yet to receive any letter.

"I look forward to the prime minister's memo (protest letter) and will deal with it when we get it," she said.

Earlier the envoy attended a function held by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) at the Equatorial Hotel.

The function was held to mark Amcham's success in winning the Corporate Citizenship Award from the US Chamber of Commerce recently for its outstanding work on the Young Enterprise Program, which is one of the longest running community service projects in Malaysia.