Three foreign prisoners being held at the U.S. navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, committed suicide by hanging themselves with clothing and bedsheets on Saturday, the U.S. Defense Department said.

"Two Saudis and one Yemeni, each located in Camp 1, were found unresponsive and not breathing in their cells by guards," U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.

The military said attempts to resuscitate the detainees failed and they were pronounced dead by a physician at Guantanamo.

The names of the deceased were not released.

This is the first reported deaths of "war on terror" prisoners at the controversial site.

The Guantanamo prison camp currently holds some 460 foreigners captured mainly in the U.S. war against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who is spending the weekend at Camp David, has been informed, a White House spokesman said.

Source: Xinhua