02 March 2004	Tuesday	10 Muharram 1425

WASHINGTON, March 1: The United States announced on Monday that it has extradited seven Russian nationals detained at Guantanamo to Russia for trial.

"They have been transferred to the control of the government of Russia to face criminal charges relating to their terrorist activities during an armed conflict," the department's spokesman Richard Boucher said.

The transfer is the result of discussions between the two governments over the past year. Mr Boucher said the US government had received assurances that "the individuals will be detained, investigated and prosecuted, as appropriate, under Russian law and will be treated humanely in accordance with Russian law and obligations."

"The war against terrorism requires close cooperation between nations. The United States welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the government of Russia on this issue and looks forward to working closely in the future in the fight against terrorism," he added.

US authorities were keeping eight Russian citizens, all Muslims, at their prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. A US news agency, UPI, has identified the prisoners as Rustam Akmerov, Ravil Gumarov, Timur Ishmuradov, Shamil Khadzhiev, Rasul Kudaev, Ravil Mingazov, Ruslan Odigov and Airat Vakhitov.

It is not clear which of these eight prisoners is still in Guantanamo.

The detainees include residents of Russia's Muslim majority republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, the city of Chelyabinsk in Western Siberia, and the Caucasus region.

US authorities said all seven men, who were handed over to Russia on Saturday, were detained in Afghanistan.

Human rights groups had been urging the United States not to send these men to Russia where they may be executed after summary trials.-AFP