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| 5 Saudi Captives Released From Guantanamo |
| 2003-05-16 |
| Fred, feel free to move this to Home Front if it fits better there. Five Saudis were released from the U.S. military prison for terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned home Thursday, the Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, said. Five? Not sure this is the signal I'd want to send right after the bombing. The U.S. Navy is holding more than 100 detainees from Saudi Arabia at Guantanamo. In all, approximately 660 detainees from 42 countries are detained at the base. Saudi Arabia has said it wants its citizens to come home. Russia, Sweden, Britain and Pakistan have made similar requests. "You can have them when we're done with them." Prince Nayef said Saudi Arabia would continue its efforts to bring back its citizens ``to be tried by legal and just courts as part of the country's rejection of all kinds of terrorism.'' As Fred says, cut a few heads off and then we'll believe you're serious. U.S. officials have long said that some prisoners could be released if their countries could guarantee they would deal with them appropriately. Thursday's release came three days after suspected al-Qaida terrorists attacked Riyadh's foreign residential compounds in suicide attacks that killed 34 people. Not sure this is the connection we want to make. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 600+ from 42 countries. I couldn't get a breakdown by country. They are shipping some out (Afghans, Pakistanis, and (SURPRISE!) Saudis. But 30 more checked in yesterday. Enjoy summer camp, boys. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-16 21:40:49 |
| #7 Anybody know the distribution of nationalities of the Gitmo Gang? It would seem that once we know as much as what we expect to know from them, we could do the repatriation thing back to govts that may be interested in more detailed interrogation in accordance with their cultural norms. The population may then fall at Gitmo for awhile to make room for other people of interest. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-16 17:47:19 |
| #6 I don't know how much info we got out of them, but I am sure the Saudis will extract lots more. Arab news makes this out to be a great concession from the U.S. Government. These five are unlikely to be be-bobbing in downtown Riyadh real soon. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2003-05-16 16:50:55 |
| #5 Put tracker collars on 'em and give 'em to the Saudis and see where they go. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-16 14:18:04 |
| #4 Actually, I think it sends exactly the right signal. "You're finally serious about dealing with the problems inside your border, so now you can have your people back to deal with them." I'm sure Prince Saud got the message loud and clear. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-16 10:58:23 |
| #3 Steve! that's really evil. I like it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-16 10:12:35 |
| #2 We should at least spread that rumor, heh, heh. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-05-16 07:28:31 |
| #1 I still believe Guantanamo has become a CIA recruitment centre. |
| Posted by: john 2003-05-16 05:56:44 |