Guantanamo inmate to be freed
2006-08-19 16:19
Berlin - A Turk with German residency held at the United States prison camp in Guantanamo Bay since 2002 would be freed next week, reported German media on Saturday.
Weekly Der Spiegel and daily Financial Times Deutschland said months of talks between the US and German governments had resulted in a deal to release Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish national born in Germany.
The papers said Kurnaz could be released and flown to Germany as early as Tuesday.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed the governments had been in talks on the matter, but declined to say whether Kurnaz's release was imminent.
Kurnaz was in the process of becoming a German citizen when he was arrested in Pakistan in late 2001.
He was taken from Pakistan to the Guantanamo prison in Cuba.
About 450 people, whom the US suspects of backing al-Qaeda or the Taliban, are held at the prison.
Kurnaz has said he has been abused at Guantanamo. He has described interrogation techniques that include sexual humiliation, water torture and the desecration of Islam.
The US has come under criticism from human rights organisations and even some of its allies for the naval base prison. Some of the prisoners have been held for more than four years without charges.
In March, German interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had said Kurnaz would be freed soon.