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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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September 17th,
2009 - U.S. Judge Orders Kuwaiti Held at Guantanamo Freed |
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U.S. Judge Orders
Kuwaiti Held at Guantanamo Freed By Jeremy Pelofsky Reuters September 17, 2009 Washington - A U.S. judge on
Thursday ordered the Obama administration to release another Kuwaiti detainee
held at the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly
ordered that Fouad Al Rabiah be released from the detention facility where he
has been held for more than seven years on charges of conspiracy and
providing material support to the Taliban and al Qaeda. The U.S. government has
accused Al Rabiah, a Kuwaiti Airlines manager, of providing money to al Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden and helping to coordinate and support Taliban fighters
in the mountainous Tora Bora region in Afghanistan. Bin Laden is believed to
have escaped through the area as U.S. forces and their allies overran Taliban
and al-Qaeda positions. But Al Rabiah's lawyers said
the case was based on mistaken identity and that their client was in
Afghanistan in October 2001 coordinating deliveries of aid supplies from Iran
to refugees. A Justice Department
spokesman said the agency was reviewing the decision. A U.S. federal judge ordered
in late July that another Kuwaiti, Khaled Al Mutairi, be released from
Guantanamo. But last month a third Kuwaiti detainee, Fawzi Al Odah, had his
petition to be freed from the detention camp denied. A lawyer for Al Rabiah and
Al Mutairi called for the Obama administration to send them back to their
home country. "We need the
administration to respect the federal court's decision and return our clients
to the care and custody of the government of Kuwait," said David
Cynamon, their attorney. President Barack Obama has
pledged to close the Guantanamo prison by January 2010, with some detainees
being released and others expected to be tried in U.S. courts or in military
commissions. The prison currently holds 226 detainees. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE58H0GH20090918 |