KARACHI, 2 May 2004 — The United States has agreed to release 20 Pakistanis from its Guantanamo Bay prison camp by the end of this month. Their release was agreed after protracted negotiations between Pentagon and Pakistani officials.
Diplomatic sources said the three-member Pakistani delegation was headed by the chief of National Crisis Management Cell Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema. The team first visited the United States in September 2002 and was taken to the detention center in Cuba to meet with the incarcerated Pakistanis.
The number of Pakistani prisoners initially stood at 82, but “it’s about 40 now ranging in age from 19 to 60,” the sources said.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri will go to Washington on May 19 for a three-day visit. He will meet with US Secretary of State Collin Powell the same day to discuss bilateral relations, regional issues and matters relating to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pakistan is under tremendous US pressure to send troops to Iraq.
Kasuri will also meet with President George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. But a date has not been set for that meeting. The minister is also scheduled to have talks with some key members of Congress.
