Washington -- A Pentagon review has found no evidence that American troops were aware of the alleged deaths of hundreds of Taliban prisoners being transported in unventilated freight containers in northern Afghanistan late last year, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says.

Repeated checks performed under established procedures found "zero reported cases of human rights violations by the teams that we had on the ground," Marine General Peter Pace told print journalists at a briefing at the Pentagon August 26.

The general's comments came in response to questions growing out of new allegations that hundreds of Taliban fighters who had surrendered to Northern Alliance troops died en route from Kunduz province to a jail in the town of Shebarghan, in Jowzjan province. Many of them were due to be interrogated by U.S. intelligence personnel.

A specific report in the August 26 issue of Newsweek magazine, based on an extensive investigation, found that American forces were in the area of the prison when the containers were delivered, though probably not when they were opened. Though U.S. soldiers "surely heard stories of deaths in the containers," Newsweek said, they may well "have thought them exaggerated."

The article stressed that "nothing that Newsweek learned suggests that American forces had advance knowledge of the killings, witnessed the prisoners being stuffed into the unventilated trucks or were in a position to prevent that."

What follows is a transcript -- provided by the Department of Defense -- of the exchange between journalists and Pace at the Pentagon briefing.

"Question: Why hasn't the American military done more to help investigate these latest allegations of atrocities alleged against Northern Alliance?

"Pace: When our Special Forces teams go into the field they get immediate pre-deployment training on human rights, and they are expected to report back on any human rights abuses that they observe, and they are expected to intervene any time they see something like that. Then they are debriefed when they come out of the field. So I'm comfortable that on the U.S. forces side of this, that we have properly instructed our guys and we have properly debriefed them.

"Q: Why shouldn't the U.S. play a more active role, in support the investigation?

"Pace: I don't know what the Afghans are going to do as far as their own investigations are concerned. I am comfortable that we have scrubbed the U.S. side very carefully. If the Afghan government needs assistance I'm sure they'll ask and we'll make a proper determination at that time.

"Q: What do you mean you scrubbed the U.S.? Have you gone back and looked at the reports, talked to the Special Forces?

"Pace: We have gone back and reviewed all of the reports of the Special Forces teams, especially with regard to the reports about atrocities near Shebarghan. We've gone back and reassured ourselves that in fact all the teams did get the proper training before they went. And we went back and reassured ourselves that the teams were debriefed when they came out of the field. In all of that there have been zero reported cases of human rights violations by the teams that we had on the ground."