U.S.-led coalition and anti-Taliban forces are in control of senior al-Qaida and Taliban personnel, according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"[W]e have some people who have been senior in al-Qaida and in Taliban," Rumsfeld told journalists at a December 21 Pentagon briefing. He said it remained to be seen who they are and how senior their positions, "and I'm not inclined to get into it at the moment."

Asked why he would not reveal names of the detainees, Rumsfeld said it was "simply because it's in flux," and because decisions had not yet been made on who should have control of them. He also pointed out that several thousands of enemy forces are now under the control of the anti-Taliban forces, the government of Pakistan or the United States, and that it was a major undertaking simply to identify properly -- meaning photographs and fingerprints -- all of them.

"We want to know who they are, and even if we don't end up taking control of them, it's a helpful thing just for nations to know who they were, just from visas and things like that or entry permits," Rumsfeld explained.

An al-Qaida convoy, containing leadership people, was attacked and destroyed December 20, according to Marine General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"We had some intelligence indicators that ... we had ... a convoy of vehicles -- about 10 to 12 -- that contained leadership," Pace said. "Those targets were attacked by AC-130 gunships and by fighter aircraft from the carriers.... The command-and-control compound from which they left was also struck," he said. Pace said he could not give a sense of the level of leadership in the convoy.

"I can tell you, though, that the vehicles were destroyed, that people were killed, and the compound from which they left was destroyed," Pace added.

Rumsfeld also said that the current stage, in which caves are being searched for possible information left behind by al-Qaida or Taliban forces, is very important.

"[T]here has been information that has been gathered in Afghanistan that has directly resulted in the arrest of people across the world ... and undoubtedly ... prevented other terrorist activities. So it's a very worthwhile thing to be doing," Rumsfeld said.