29 July 2004	Thursday	11 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

PARIS, July 28: A lawyer for two Frenchmen held for over two years by the US military in Guantanamo Bay said on Wednesday he had not been allowed to speak to the two since they were returned to France and taken into custody on Tuesday.

Jacques Debray's clients Mourad Benchellali and Nizar Sassi were being quizzed by anti-terrorism police along with two others handed over to Paris by US authorities on Tuesday.

Lurid tales of abuse of prisoners by US troops in Iraq had increased fears about the pair's psychological and physical well-being, Debray said. He said he doubted they would receive a fair trial if French courts admitted evidence gleaned from them during their 2-1/2 years in detention at the US military camp in Cuba.

The men were flown back to France by military plane on Tuesday along with fellow French detainees Imad Kanouni and Brahim Yadel. They were detained on arrival for questioning by France's DST domestic intelligence service.

"Our fears are linked to all we know about the treatment that some detainees suffered in Guantanamo. The revelations about Baghdad only increased these fears," Debray said, referring to a prisoner abuse scandal that triggered a wave of international condemnation and an official investigation.

A US army report last Thursday detailed 94 cases of abuse at Abu Ghraib jail and at least three dozen detainees' deaths. Debray said French government officials who visited the Guantanamo detainees in February had said some of the French nationals "appeared to be in a very bad condition, psychologically".

A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office said the four men had twice been examined by doctors since their return to France. Debray said that fell well short of a full medical and psychological examination by experts. The four Frenchmen were captured during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and held by American forces on suspicion of fighting with the Taliban. -Reuters