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<p>The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.</p> <p>Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained.</p>

ABOARD USS PELELIU IN THE NORTHERN PERSIAN GULF, April 13, 2006 – A multinational task force is hard at work here, seeking to preserve the free and secure use of the northern Persian Gulf by legitimate mariners and to prevent terrorists from transporting personnel, weapons or other illicit material by sea. Combined Task Force 58 includes naval forces from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, including U.S. Coast Guard, as well as Iraqi sailors and marines. U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Carl B. Jensen, who leads Expeditionary Strike Group 3, took command of the task force April 10....

Marines Study Poetry as They Prepare for Battle Marines Study Poetry as They Prepare for Battle By Claudia ParsonsABOARD USS PELELIU (Reuters) - U.S. marines poised for battle are taking time off between keeping fit and cleaning their guns to study anger management and World War One poetry.``(The war poetry) gives them an outlet to maybe express what they're going through right now,'' said Captain Chris Picado, who teaches an English class to 18 marines on board the USS Peleliu warship in the Arabian Sea.``If anything it'll make them better writers to their wives,'' said Picado, keen to be a ...

Story Number: NNS040304-03 Release Date: 3/4/2004 10:10:00 AM From Expeditionary Strike Group 1 Public Affairs SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The seven ships attached to Expeditionary Strike Group One (ESG 1) are returning home this week following a six and a half month deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. USS Greeneville (SSN 772) returned to its Pearl Harbor homeport Feb. 27. USS Port Royal (CG 73), also from Pearl Harbor, is scheduled to arrive home March 10. The remaining ships of ESG 1, USS Peleliu (LHA 5), USS Ogden (LPD 5), USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Jarrett (FFG...

Story Number: NNS040304-09 Release Date: 3/4/2004 11:43:00 AM By Journalist 1st Class Jim Williams, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Gordon R. England visited with the Sailors and Marines of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 aboard USS Peleliu (LHA 5) at Pearl Harbor Feb. 27. The stop aboard the ship was just one of many during a busy day in which he traveled around the harbor, visiting with Sailors and Marines and conducting meetings with local military leadership. "Hawaii is one of the most important places in the Pacific in...

Madisonville soldier dies A memorial service was held aboard the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Peleliu in Apra Harbor yesterday, and more than 2,100 servicemen gathered to pay their respects to Cpl. Adam Lipford. Soldier drowns as deployment neared its end By Greg LaRose MADISONVILLE - Lynelle Lipford admits she is a proud single mother who has led a life of struggles and learned to overcome them. It is in that vein that she is attempting to deal with the death of her only child, 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Adam Lipford, who drowned Tuesday when the tank he was...

Former Marine Helps Military Wife Visit Family   Submitted by: 13th MEUStory Identification Number: 2004121224212Story by Sgt. Mark P. Ledesma ABOARD USS PELELIU(January 20, 2004) -- The biggest sacrifices made in the current war against terror are not only made by the men and women currently serving in operations around the world, but also by the families they leave behind. Back home, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters are affected. A former Marine who served during the Vietnam War recognized those sacrifices and recently lent a helping hand to a spouse whose husband is currently deployed with the 13th...

US seizes 'al-Qaeda drug boat' The US navy has made a series of arrests on the region's seas The US navy has intercepted a boat carrying drugs near the Gulf in what it says is a suspected al-Qaeda drugs trafficking operation. Fifteen people on board the vessel were arrested and the navy said it had found hashish with a street value of $11m hidden in compartments on board. It is at least the third drug-smuggling boat to have been seized in two weeks in or near the Gulf. A number of arrested sailors are being questioned, the Pentagon said. US...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 2, 2004Release Number: 04-01-05 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INTERROGATION OF SUSPECTED AL QAEDA AFFILIATES LEADS U.S. AND AUSTRALIAN NAVIES TO SEIZE MORE DRUGS ABOARD USS PELELIU, At Sea (1 JAN 2004) – Fifteen individuals were detained and an estimated 2,800 pounds of hashish (approximately $11 million street value) was seized by U.S. and coalition maritime forces following the interception of a dhow in the North Arabian Sea. These forces were operating in international waters in the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces...

U.S. Navy Seizes Small Boat Carrying $11 Million Worth of Hashish Near Persian Gulf WASHINGTON Jan. 2 — The U.S. Navy has seized another small boat carrying drugs near the Persian Gulf after interrogating smugglers with suspected links to the al-Qaida terrorist network, the military announced Friday. The boat seized on New Year's Day was the fourth drug-smuggling vessel intercepted by Americans in the past two weeks in or near the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials say they believe all four boats, which were carrying hashish, heroin and methamphetamines, are part of a drug smuggling operation which funnels money to Osama...

Making a 'Smooth' TransitionSubmitted by: 13th MEUStory Identification Number: 2003123112712Story by Capt. Bill Pelletier ABOARD USS PELELIU(Dec. 3, 2002) -- It?s been a busy year for Maj. Barry Dowell and some of his comrades. In October 2002, Dowell, a Harrier pilot by trade, was doing refresher training at VMAT-203, a training squadron at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., after serving as a flight instructor in Texas for two years. Fast forward to three weeks ago, and Dowell had completed more than a dozen combat missions, most of them north of Baghdad. "It's pretty wild," said the 34-year-old Lexington, Ky., native,...

<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Seven heavily armed warships departing from here Friday combine troops, ships and weaponry in a new-look Navy and Marine Corps strike force that military officers say will be more powerful and versatile than traditional arrangements.</p> <p>The Expeditionary Strike Group One is the first of its kind and is being called a part of the military's larger effort to emphasize flexibility along with intimidating firepower and cooperation between various branches. Similar groups are planned for both Pacific and Atlantic fleets.</p>