Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Fifteen Saudi Guantanamo detainees arrive home | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page

RIYADH, (Agencies) – Fifteen Saudi Arabian detainees at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay naval base arrived home on Friday after being freed from U.S. custody, the kingdom’s Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said.

He said in comments carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the 15 named men “will be made subject to the country’s laws”.

Prince Nayef said the kingdom was trying to secure the release and return of the remaining Saudi detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Last Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said 16 Saudi nationals would be released from Guantanamo Bay then jailed and put on trial in Saudi Arabia, if a review of their cases shows a trial is justified.

Eight Saudis have previously been released from Guantanamo Bay, where the United States has been holding more than 500 detainees since the Taliban and al Qaeda were ousted from Afghanistan in late 2001, including more than 100 Saudis.

At least five of the earlier released detainees were freed by Saudi Arabia last year after they completed their jail sentences.

Nearly all of the prisoners at Guantanamo, in Cuba, are being held without charge and some have been held for more than three years.