GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. military officials began questioning the 158 Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners on Wednesday at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said.

The questioning was not an interrogation, an officer said.

"It's an interview process, an information-gathering process, not a forceful process," said Navy Capt. Robert Buehn, commander of the navy base.

U.S. military officials had said earlier in the day that they were temporarily halting flights bringing prisoners to Guantanamo Bay from Afghanistan, to give them time to expand jail facilities and to prepare to question the prisoners.

Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, who heads the task force holding the prisoners brought to the base over the last 12 days, said that once questioned, prisoners were separated from the other detainees.

"It wouldn't do to have them comparing notes," Lehnert said. He would not say whether any law enforcement officials participated in the interviews, but said the prisoners did not have lawyers present.

The United States has faced criticism from human rights groups and others over the treatment of shackled detainees on flights to Guantanamo Bay and at the base. There has also been criticism of Washington's refusal to designate them prisoners of war, which would give them the right to consult lawyers.

But Washington has insisted it is treating them humanely and respecting the spirit of the Geneva Convention. The detainees, whom the Pentagon calls "illegal combatants," have not been charged with any crime, although some could face military trials authorized by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

"Our view is, legal counsel is not appropriate at this point," Lehnert said. "We're looking for information, not necessarily for prosecution purposes."

Lehnert said the questions asked were such things as where a detainee came from and where he had been.

In Miami, Steve Lucas, a spokesman for the Southern Command, said officials wanted information to halt possible future attacks following the Sept. 11 airborne assaults on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.

The attacks prompted the U.S.-led war to oust Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and hunt down Osama bin Laden.

The prisoners are being held in guarded eight-by-eight-foot (2.5 metre-by- 2.5 metre) cage-like outdoor cells at the Guantanamo Bay base, which is on lease from Cuba.

Military officials at the base sought to counter criticism of prison conditions, saying they are shackled only when they are moved, and that the blacked-out goggles used during the transfer to Guantanamo are removed when the prisoners are checked into the prison camp.

The prisoners' food is cooked by the same workers who prepare food for the U.S. military.

"We are treating them in a fair, firm and humane manner," said Army Col. Terry Carrico, the prison camp warden.

Asked about conditions, Carrico said, "This is the Holiday Inn compared ..." and was interrupted by a reporter who asked "to the Hanoi Hilton?"

"Yes," Carrico replied. The "Hanoi Hilton" was an infamously harsh camp for U.S. troops held prisoner during the Vietnam War.

Military officials said they were carrying out recommendations made by visiting officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross, so long as doing so did not compromise security. They did not elaborate.

They also said the decision to suspend flights bringing in new prisoners was based more on security concerns than on any criticism of the prisoners' treatment.

The camp was near capacity with 158 prisoners, and U.S. officials wanted to avoid doubling them up in their cells. Another 60 cells were due to be finished by Thursday, boosting capacity to 220.

"The most important thing on my mind is security," Lehnert said. "Security trumps everything."

One prisoner spat on a military guard on Tuesday and, a few days earlier, another bit a guard on the arm but did not break the skin, officials said, adding that there had been no major incidents at the prison camp.

Pentagon officials said in Washington that flights bringing new prisoners could resume next week.

The most recent arrivals, on Monday, were 14 wounded detainees on stretchers. Officials said five of the prisoners at the camp had undergone surgery, mostly for four- and five-week-old bone fractures.

Paperback copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, were given to each prisoner on Wednesday. A Muslim cleric, a U.S. Navy lieutenant born in Bangladesh, also arrived at the base on Wednesday and a green sign was been posted on a pole indicating the direction of Mecca, which Muslims face when praying. Nampa-Reuters