Gitmo Illegal Underwear Investigated

The U.S. military has discovered two prisoners at Guantanamo were sporting contraband underwear — and is investigating whether attorneys supplied the men with more than legal briefs.

Both prisoners were caught wearing Under Armour briefs and one also had on a Speedo bathing suit, items the military said were not issued by Guantanamo personnel or sent through the regular mail, according to a Department of Defense letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Army Lt. Col. Ed Bush, a spokesman at the jail holding some 340 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al Qaeda and the Taliban, said more was involved than just an uproar over skivvies.

He said the appearance of contraband raised serious concerns about the potential for smuggling other items that could be used by detainees to harm themselves or staff, without providing details.

Three prisoners who committed suicide in June 2006 hanged themselves with nooses made from bed sheets. The military has not disclosed the method used by a detainee who killed himself in May.

The letter, sent last month by the Navy Judge Advocate General to an attorney for one of the prisoners, noted both detainees are represented by the British human rights group Reprieve and suggested their lawyers may have "surreptitiously" provided the unauthorized undergarments.

A lawyer for one of the detainees denied that he or another attorney smuggled underwear to the men, calling the allegation "patently absurd."