October 14, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 20, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: The US authorities will repatriate eight Pakistani prisoners from its detention cells in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan on October 15, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao revealed on Friday.

“Two of the prisoners will be released from Guantanamo Bay and six from the US Airbase in Batgram, Afghanistan,” the minister told reporters in a press conference in the interior ministry.

The minister did not disclose the names of prisoners to be freed from Afghanistan. However, source in the Interior Ministry told Dawn that Muhammad Haleem and Zia Shah would be released from Guantanamo Bay.

Responding to a question about total number of Pakistanis languishing in the two cells, the minister said six Pakistanis were still in Guantanamo Bay and 20 in Batgram.

The source said the US authorities were reluctant to release Saifullah Paracha, an alleged financier of Al Qaeda languishing in the Guantanamo prison camp.

“The US authorities fear that Mr Paracha will again get involved in such activities if he is released and repatriated to Pakistan,” the source said.

A two-member Pakistani delegation visited the United States and Guantanamo Bay in August to secure release of six Pakistanis including Saifullah Paracha.

The US authorities had agreed to release two Pakistanis, Muhammad Haleem and Zia Shah.

“These two prisoners were cleared in investigations and are no more required by the US authorities,” he said.

A member of the Pakistani delegation that visited the Guantanamo Bay prison and met Saifullah Paracha said Paracha was a philanthropist and he had met Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden during his visit to Afghanistan along with a delegation. His visit, he said, was aimed at helping the Afghans through donations.

“Paracha told me that he was not a member of Al Qaeda but had financially supported Afghans on humanitarian grounds,” the source said.

Talking about other Pakistani prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, the official said two of them had worked for Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, believed to be the one of the key planners of September 11, attacks in the US. “Although they have served for Khalid Sheikh as his employees, they were not link with Al Qaeda,” the official said.

About 67 Pakistanis had already returned from Guantanamo Bay last year.

The US authorities have reportedly asked Pakistan to keep vigilant eye on all the prisoners who had been repatriated from the Guantanamo Bay. Some of them, after their return, were sent to local jails so that they could not again get involved in terror activities.

However, National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) chief Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema claims that none of Pakistanis repatriated from Guantanamo was in any jail in Pakistan. “They have been released and are leading a normal life,” he said.

Around 490 people from different countries are stated to be still in the Guantanamo Bay, established in January 2002.

The US fears that the detainees would again join international terrorism network or Al Qaeda if they are released.