Five Kuwaitis in Guantanamo to be freed soon
Five out of 11 Kuwaiti detainees at the US Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are going to be conditionally released soon, a human rights activist said.
Five out of 11 Kuwaiti detainees at the US Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are going to be conditionally released soon, a human rights activist said.
"I'm optimistic that they will be released in a month as we are in contact with our ambassador in the United States and the Kuwaiti foreign ministry," Khalid Al Ouda, Head of the Society of Guantanamo Detainees Families, told Gulf News.
"There are US security establishments — CIA, FBI and Immigration Department — which deal with this issue and make it complicated as none of them can decide whether one or more of the detainees are innocent," he added.
Al Ouda said talks continued between US and Kuwaiti officials over release of these detainees.
He added a protocol was signed in October 2004 between the two sides to hand the detainees on four conditions:
- The detainees are arrested and tried on arriving in Kuwait
- They are to be treated humanely
- The Kuwaiti government has to inform the US government of the results of the interrogation in case they are acquitted
- The detainees must be under surveillance and must not leave Kuwait
"The recent visits of Kuwaiti officials to the United States aimed to activate this protocol, particularly Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah's visit three months ago," said Al Ouda.
The 11 detainees are Fawzi Al Ouda, Abdul Aziz Al Shimmari, Mohammad Al Dihani, Fayez Al Kandari, Abdullah Al Kandari, Khalid Al Mutairi, Sa'ad Al Azmi, Adel Al Zamel, Fuad Al Rabia, Abdullah Al Ajmi and Omar Rajab.
The writer is a journalist based in Kuwait
