Downing Street has rejected criticism from human rights groups over the treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners who are currently imprisoned in Cuba.

The prime minister's official spokesman said that the prisoners were "quite capable of causing crises and death - even when prisoners." He went on to say that "they are inevitably being treated in a rigorous way to ensure there is no repeat of Mazar-i-Sharif" - referring to the prison uprising in December which led to several days of fierce fighting.

The three prisoners who are thought to be British are to receive a visit from UK officials over the next few days.

It has also emerged that the United States is preferring to use hundreds of its own troops to continue the hunt for Osama bin Laden, rather than use the assistance of local Afghans, after many al Qaeda fighters were apparently allowed to escape from the Tora Bora cave complex.

Today's Mirror questions the success of the campaign, saying that more than 100 days of bombing and at least 12,000 air strikes have not led to the objective of capturing Osama bin Laden, but they have led to the deaths of over 4000 Afghan civilians.