PARIS, July 27: The United States handed over to France four of the seven Frenchmen held without charge in the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for more than two years, Paris said on Tuesday.
The Foreign Ministry said the men, seized by US forces in Afghanistan on suspicion of fighting with the fallen Taliban regime there, would be flown back to France on Tuesday.
Relations have been frosty between Paris and Washington, who fell out over the US-led war in Iraq, remain divided in global trade talks and have clashed over whether Turkey should become a member of the European Union.
"Following discussions between France and the United States on the French detainees in Guantanamo, the American authorities have decided to hand over to France four of those held on the Guantanamo military base, who will be repatriated to France today," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We are carrying on discussions with American authorities in order to obtain the release of the (three) French detainees remaining in Guantanamo as soon as possible." A ministry spokeswoman declined to give details of their arrival. French judicial sources said they would arrive at the Evreux military base in Normandy in early afternoon and be detained by the DST domestic intelligence service.
"In terrorism cases, detention can last up to four days," Jacques Debray, a lawyer for one of them, told RMC radio. The ministry declined to say which suspects were being handed over. -Reuters
