ISLAMABAD, July 18: Eleven Pakistanis, released on Thursday by US authorities from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba after being held as al-Qaeda terrorist suspects, are recovering in an Islamabad hospital, a government spokesman said on Friday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the long journey would tire anyone. “Don’t forget they were coming from a long detention,” he said, referring to their 18-month ordeal.

An American C-130 military transport plane brought the 11 Pakistanis to Islamabad on Thursday night. They were taken prisoner during the US war on terrorism in Afghanistan in the winter of 2001 and spent 18 months in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Mr Ahmed said the 11 would be allowed to go home after recuperating from fatigue and any illness.

Earlier reports had said the returning prisoners were handed over to Pakistan security agencies for questioning and “debriefing.”

It was the second group of Pakistan prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay and followed discussions on the prisoner issue between President Pervez Musharraf and Bush administration officials during a recent visit to Washington.

Five prisoners were released earlier this year with no charges pressed against them. One sent a legal notice to US authorities demanding compensation for wrongful confinement.

US authorities had told their Pakistan counterparts 13 prisoners would be released but only 11 arrived overnight aboard a special plane, an interior ministry official said.

“We are not yet aware of the reasons for releasing two less than the indicated number,” ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said.

He did not say how long the questioning would take or when they would be allowed to return to their homes.

A total of 58 Pakistanis were captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 after the fall of hardline Taliban regime in a US-led campaign.—AFP/DPA