The Pentagon is desperate to cut by more than half the number of detainees at its prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the US has been accused of abusing and torturing inmates.

And, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is pressing the State Department to increase pressure on some unresponsive countries to take custody of some of their nationals, a senior defence official said.

The camp holds about 540 suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners, including six from Bahrain.

The military said 211 prisoners had left the prison, including 62 who have been transferred to their home countries. But some countries have largely ignored US requests for transfers, officials said without identifying the nations.

Hundreds of detainees are sought to be transferred to prisons in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen, The New York Times newspaper reported.

Officials said that the transfers would be similar to the CIA transfers of captives to other countries, but subject to stricter approval within the government.

The US has faced international criticism for its treatment of the Guantanamo prisoners.

PHOTO CAPTION

Dressed in bright orange coveralls, Guantanamo prisoners wash before midday prayers at Camp X-Ray, where they are being held, at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AFP)