U.S. prepares for Taliban prisoners

About 1,000 U.S. troops have received orders to go to the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where al Qaida and Taliban prisoners will be held under maximum security.

(CNN) -- Hundreds of U.S. troops were deployed Sunday to set up a maximum-security prison at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba that will hold the growing number al Qaeda and Taliban detainees in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military is holding about 300 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters at a prison compound at the Kandahar airport. Nine others, including former Taliban spokesman Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef and American Taliban fighter John Walker, are being held aboard the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea.

The U.S. Central Command said the Guantanamo Bay facility will be ready to hold about 100 prisoners in a few days and will eventually expand to hold up to 2,000. (Full story)

The United States hopes several high-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban members in U.S. custody will yield information on the whereabouts of the groups' top leaders.

Zaeef, 34, has been questioned in recent days by U.S. and Pakistani officials about the whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told NBC's "Meet the Press" bin Laden is believed to have left Afghanistan.

"In the for-what-it's-worth department, in this part of the world there is a belief that Mr. bin Laden is already over the border in Pakistan," he said.

On the same program, interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai said that only about 35 hard-core Taliban and al Qaeda leaders were still at large. He said Afghanistan was committed to bringing them to justice. (Full story)

VIDEO Lack of medicine and supplies means harsh living conditions at an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan. CNN's John Vause reports (January 6) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     QUICKVOTE How long will U.S. troops be in Afghanistan? Less than a year Between one and two years More than two years View Results     RESOURCES Photo gallery: Faces of bin Laden    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Latest developments

• U.S. warplanes launched heavy airstrikes near the Pakistani border town of Miram Shah in an apparent attempt to flush out al Qaeda and Taliban members trying to cross the border into Pakistan. The area is also the location of a suspected terrorist training site that reportedly contains ordnance, explosives, tunnels and possibly remaining al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

• Congress has provided more than $60 billion since September 11 to combat terrorism at home and abroad and to rebuild from the attacks on New York and Washington, The Associated Press reports. That is about five times more than the United States spent on antiterrorism measures in the previous year. (Full story)

• Police in Tampa, Florida, said Sunday a note written by the 15-year-old boy who crashed a Cessna into a Tampa office building Saturday indicated he supported Osama bin Laden. The crash, they said, appeared to be a suicide. Authorities said they had found no connection between the teen and any terror organization and that he appeared to have acted alone. (Full story)

• The first German and Dutch troops will join the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan this week, German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping said Sunday. Seventy German and 30 Dutch soldiers will leave for Afghanistan on Tuesday to join British and French troops already in the country. (Full story)

German police said Sunday a man arrested on suspicion of being an al Qaeda member has no connection to the terrorist network. The Lebanese man, 27, was arrested Saturday in western Germany's Moenchengladbach with a false Italian passport and large quantities of European currencies. He originally was charged with belonging to an illegal organization but now is being held on charges related to his passport. (Full story)

• Taliban supreme ruler Mullah Mohammed Omar remains at large, the deputy head of intelligence in Afghanistan's interim government said Saturday. Responding to reports the reclusive Taliban leader had escaped approaching Afghan forces near Baghran, Abdullah Tawheedi said he would not comment on Omar's location until searches of that region are complete. (Full story)

• The body of a U.S. Special Forces soldier who was killed in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan arrived Saturday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. A Defense Department memo identified the soldier as Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, of San Antonio, Texas. (Full story)