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| U.S. hands over four French Guantanamo inmates for transfer home |
| By Bloomberg |
| Published: 08/02/2004 |
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The U.S. handed over four French nationals held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for suspected terrorists to their country's officials, the French Foreign Ministry said. The four, who were not identified, all arrived in France last Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site. A total of seven French citizens were known to be held at the U.S. base on Cuba. They were arrested in Afghanistan after the U.S. military began a campaign against the al-Qaeda terrorist network and its Taliban allies. The Frenchmen were transferred into the custody of officers of the Direction de Surveillance du Territoire, or DST, the French counter-espionage and counter-terrorist agency, state- owned France Info radio said. The ministry said the transfer took place at Guantanamo. "We are pursuing discussions with the American authorities with a view to obtaining the handover of the other French detainees in Guantanamo as soon as possible," the Foreign Ministry said. France's top anti-terrorist investigator, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, has been seeking the return of all French detainees for questioning in France. In March, five U.K. nationals in Guantanamo were transferred to Britain. All were released without charge within 24 hours. The U.S. Defense Department says it has designated 15 prisoners at Guantanamo as eligible to face trial before military tribunals on terrorism charges. The U.S. is holding about 600 people from 40 countries at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Many suspected members of al- Qaeda and the Taliban have been seized since 2001 when the U.S. began the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The U.S. Supreme Court last month said American and foreign citizens held as enemy combatants have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. |
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