Germany's prosecutors confirmed Saturday that they are investigating claims the US army illegally held terrorist suspects at a military prison in Germany.

The German news agency DPA reported from the western German city of Karlsruhe that prosecutors admitted interrogating witness and a decision on whether to proceed with the case was still pending.

The German magazine Stern reported that a witness had heard a US soldier refer to the detentions at the military facility in Mannheim near Frankfurt. The three Arabic detainees were reportedly physically abused at the prison.

Both the German government and the US authorities denied there were such prisons in Germany.
 
US President George W. Bush acknowledged last month that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated secret prisons to detain terrorist suspects since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2006)