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Legislator says 70 Yemenis to be released from Guantanamo prison

Other News Materials 11 January 2008 21:56 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- Authorities in the United States are to release 70 Yemenis from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and extradite them to their home country soon, a Yemeni MP said on Friday.

"Yemeni government received assurances from the US authorities about the extradition of 70 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo ," MP Muhammad Ali Abu- Luhoum told journalists and rights activists in Sana'a.

Yemeni officials were not immediately available for comment.

Around 100 Yemenis are among the 275 men from several countries being held at Guantanamo .

Twelve Yemenis have been released from the facility during the past two years. Of these, five were released by Yemeni authorities while the rest were put on trial in Yemen for falsifying identification documents. None were charged with terrorism-related activities.

A team of US lawyers representing Yemeni nationals detained at Guantanamo appealed to the Yemeni government last May to take visible steps to secure the release of its citizens.

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