WASHINGTON, Sept 19: With the transfer of 35 prisoners to Pakistan on Saturday, only three Pakistani prisoners have been left at the US Navy's prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Diplomatic sources told Dawn that there were 38 Pakistanis at Guantanamo Bay before the latest transfer that led to the release of 29 of these prisoners. Six were arrested upon their arrival in Pakistan under an arrangement with the United States.

They will be investigated and tried on terrorism charges if Pakistani security agencies confirm US suspicions that they were involved with Al Qaeda. Three others still left at Guantanamo Bay are also among the suspects who had links to Al Qaeda's network in Afghanistan, American investigators say.

Their cases are now being investigated by a US Department of Defence review board and they may also be sent to Pakistan for custody and further investigation once the review is completed.

A total of 60 Pakistanis were brought to the US military facility after the fall of the Taliban regime in November 2001. The transfer included one detainee who was approved for release last week after the US Defence Department's Combatant Status Review Tribunal found that he was not an "enemy combatant."