Lawyers for the former detainees filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking 10 million dollars in damages from US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top government officials for the alleged torture and abuse.

Since their release in March from the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith have charged they were regularly beaten, deprived of sleep, exposed to extreme temperatures, forcibly undressed, threatened with death or dogs, and harassed about their religion and ethnicity.

Major Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman, said, "Those allegations are false."

He said the Justice Department was representing the Defense Department in the matter.

Shavers said the four former detainees were captured illegally fighting for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and were properly classified as enemy combatants.

"Their detention was directly related to their combat activities as determined by an appropriate DoD official before they were transferred to Guantanamo," he said.

"There is no basis in US law to pay claims to those captured and detained as a result of combat activities," he said.

He said it was US policy to treat all detainees "in a manner consistent with US legal obligations, and specifically legal obligations prohibiting torture."

However, the United States contends that as "illegal combatants" suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners captured in Afghanistan are not protected by the Geneval Conventions.

The suit refers to a memo signed by Rumsfeld in December 2002, authorizing interrogators to use various strong-arm tactics.