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Delegation heads to Guantanamo to meet Kuwaiti prisoners
Kuwait, Aug 13: A delegation of Kuwaiti security officials left today for the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to visit the 12 Kuwaitis held there on suspicion of ties to the al-Qaida terror group.
Kuwait, Aug 13: A delegation of Kuwaiti security officials left today for the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to visit the 12 Kuwaitis held there on suspicion of ties to the al-Qaida terror group.
The three security officers are flying first to Washington DC, where they will spend a couple of days before going to Guantanamo Bay.
The officers are carrying letters and parcels from relatives of the 12 detainees.
"Everyone sent letters, clothes, taped messages and books, and some sent mixed nuts," said Khaled al-Oda, the head of a group that has campaigned for the release of the men.
The relatives of the Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo say that their loved ones were performing humanitarian work in Afghanistan when they were arrested. The families insist that the detainees have no links to al-Qaida, the group held responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Al-Oda, the father of a 24-year-old detainee, said that the Kuwaiti delegation has been asked to bring back documents that would prove the detainees were held at the US naval base. Such papers were needed to file requests for financial support from the Kuwaiti government for the wives and children of the detainees, he said.
Al-Oda said the families had no guarantee that they would receive such documents, or even that their letters and packages would be delivered, because it depends on the approval of the US authorities at Guantanamo base.
The three security officers are flying first to Washington DC, where they will spend a couple of days before going to Guantanamo Bay.
The officers are carrying letters and parcels from relatives of the 12 detainees.
"Everyone sent letters, clothes, taped messages and books, and some sent mixed nuts," said Khaled al-Oda, the head of a group that has campaigned for the release of the men.
The relatives of the Kuwaitis detained at Guantanamo say that their loved ones were performing humanitarian work in Afghanistan when they were arrested. The families insist that the detainees have no links to al-Qaida, the group held responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Al-Oda, the father of a 24-year-old detainee, said that the Kuwaiti delegation has been asked to bring back documents that would prove the detainees were held at the US naval base. Such papers were needed to file requests for financial support from the Kuwaiti government for the wives and children of the detainees, he said.
Al-Oda said the families had no guarantee that they would receive such documents, or even that their letters and packages would be delivered, because it depends on the approval of the US authorities at Guantanamo base.
Bureau Report