Detained Sudanese freed
2004-02-16 08:24
Khartoum - Two Sudanese nationals have been freed from the US Navy base at Guantanamo and negotiations were under way for the release of the remaining ten Sudanese detainees, Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said on Sunday.
"We were informed today by the US authorities that two Sudanese nationals have been released from the US base in Guantanamo, Cuba," Ismail told journalists.
He added that a Sudanese delegation visiting Guantanamo was making arrangements for the return of the two men, while it was negotiating the release of the rest.
Ismail did not name any of the 12 or say when, how or where they were arrested, though unconfirmed news reports here said one of those freed was seized while he was a cameraman in Afghanistan for the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera.
The Sudanese are among the hundreds of alleged Islamic militants US officials have been holding in Guntanamo as part of Washington's "war on terror".
Ismail earlier said the Sudanese embassy in London was also following up the case of a Sudanese detained there last month for alleged possession of live ammunition on arrival at Heathrow airport from US Dulles airport in Washington.
Ismail was quoted as saying "we are keen to have" Alwasila Alhibr Wasila freed by the British legal authorities "as we are confident of his innocence."
Last month Ismail said his government was also seeking the release of an unspecified number of Sudanese held in US-occupied Iraq, but there was no further information on the case.
He also said at the same time that three Sudanese detained in Israeli prisons were to have been released as part of a prisoner swap that occurred at the end of last month between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.