This letter from Amb. Prosper to Helmut Hausle is in response to a letter Mr. Hausle sent to Sec. of State Powell concerning the status and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo. Amb. Prosper states that "The United States and its Coalition partners are at war with the al Qaida network and remnants of the Taliban who continue to support them. The al Qaida network today is a multinational enterprise with operations in more than 60 countries; there are active hostilities are ongoing daily in Afghanistan and around the world; and We continue to fight against enemy combatants who are planning and conducting attacks against us. He then states that: detainees, regardless of their lack of status as POWs under the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, will be treated consistent with American values and the principles of the international law of armed conflict; United States Government personnel are not permitted to torture detainees or participate in torture by others; and the authority to detain enemy combatants for the duration of hostilities exists in law independent of the civil judicial or criminal justice system. Finally, Amb. Prosper states "The United States is strongly committed to protecting and advancing human rights.