RIYADH, 4 March 2002 - Jameel Al-Hujeilan, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, yesterday reiterated a GCC demand that the United States hand over their citizens detained in the Guantanamo base in Cuba. He said the GCC will not leave them at the mercy of the United States.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, Hujeilan said the GCC states ó Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates ó were trying their best to get their citizens extradited from Cuba. “The GCC states want to question their citizens in their own countries. People do make mistakes; after all they are human beings. But the GCC cannot leave them at the mercy of America as is the case now,” he added.

The GCC chief said the six-member group had not yet officially discussed the issue of Guantanamo detainees as they do not belong to all GCC states. However, he pointed out that the GCC was unanimous in its view that the GCC citizens held by the US in its base in Cuba should not be abandoned.

Although the Bush administration had assured humanitarian treatment for the detainees, its policies toward them had raised criticism not only from rights organizations but also from the heads of some European governments. The worldwide criticism prompted US President George W. Bush to announce a partial change in his policy, by giving the rights guaranteed under the Geneva Accord to Taleban detainees, but not the Al-Qaeda men.

This discrimination triggered protests in the Gulf streets, especially after Bush denied the rights to the Arab and Gulf detainees held in the base, considering them as elements of the Al-Qaeda and without looking at the reasons that prompted them to leave for Afghanistan.

These protests have intensified after reports of mistreatment of the detainees ó estimated at about 300 ó by American forces. According to Interior Minister Prince Naif, there are nearly 100 Saudis among the detainees.

US Defense Secretary Ronald Rumsfeld recently hinted that the detainees will be handed over to their respective countries but on condition that they be prosecuted by their home governments.

Gulf citizens believe that the detention of their compatriots in Cuba is unlawful and say that they should be given the same treatment as given to American fighter John Walker Lindh.