WASHINGTON, Feb 16: The United States and Pakistan are negotiating an annual review for detainees at Guantanamo Bay that could see some being freed
, US and diplomatic sources told Dawn on Monday.
A similar arrangement is also being discussed with countries whose nationals are imprisoned at the US military camp in Cuba. Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hinted at this arrangement when he said Washington was negotiating a deal with those countries, which would be "a departure from the practice in most previous wars".
Pakistanis are the third largest nationality with 82 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Saudi Arabia tops the list with at least 160 of the 650 detainees, almost a quarter of the total. Afghans are the fourth largest nationality with 80 detainees. The other top nationalities being held are Yemen with 85 and Jordan and Egypt, each with 30.
Under the arrangement now being negotiated, even those prisoners who fought against the US forces in Afghanistan can be released if they are judged to be no longer a threat to the US or they no longer possess intelligence useful for Washington, the Pentagon said.
"We're trying to do so in as expeditious a manner as is possible," a senior Pentagon official told Dawn. He said those detainees who were captured during the war in Afghanistan and continued to be a threat to the United States, but were not guilty of war crimes, would be transferred to their native countries for detention or prosecution.
"We are negotiating agreements with a number of countries to facilitate such transfers," he said. Even those who cannot be released under this arrangement will be allowed an annual review of their cases.
During the review they will be allowed to convince a panel of US intelligence and military officials that they are no longer a threat and can be released. Most inmates at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay are former Al Qaeda members or Taliban captured during the war in Afghanistan.
