US suspends all military trials at Guantanamo

The decision came as the US Supreme Court was expected to rule imminently on the military tribunals' legality.

"All sessions in all cases currently referred to trial by Military Commissions are stayed until further notice," the Pentagon said in a statement posted Monday but dated Saturday, the day the three detainees were found hanged in their cells.

The statement does not explain the reasons behind the suspension.

Only 10 of the 460 inmates held as "enemy combatants" have been formally charged since the camp opened in early 2002 at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hearings for some detainees were previously suspended pending a ruling from the top US court, but other sessions had continued. A decision is expected this month.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in March in a pivotal case brought by Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan that could determine the fate of the tribunals.

President George W. Bush's administration has come under pressure from human rights groups and even allies to close down Guantanamo.

Human rights groups said the suicides showed the inmates were in a state of despair because of the indefinite nature of their detention.

Before the three successful suicides Saturday, the US military had reported 41 suicide attempts by 25 detainees.

The attorneys for the three dead detainees -- two Saudis and a Yemeni -- chided the military Tuesday for failing to notify them about their clients' demise for three days.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which said it represented all three detainees found dead in their cells Saturday morning, called for an "emergency, independent inspection" of the Guantanamo facility to confirm the cause of their death.

The three were the first inmates to die at the detention center since it opened.

Earlier, the Pentagon rebuffed calls by human rights groups for an outside investigation into the suicides.

"I wouldn't expect that," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "The United States is very capable of reviewing its own procedures to determine whether or not any changes need to be made."

He said the incident "will be looked into appropriately."