JEDDAH, 24 September 2006 — Interior Minister Prince Naif has ordered the release of all Saudi Guantanamo Bay returnees from the Kingdom’s prisons in order to help them fast during Ramadan and celebrate Eid Al-Fitr with their families.
The prisoners will be released on bail and will have to return on Oct. 30 to complete remaining legal procedures, said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. The release of the Guantanamo prisoners had good results in the past.
Last month nine of 29 Saudi returnees from the US detention center in Guantanamo, who were repatriated in May and June to the Kingdom, were released. Ninety-five Saudis are still held at Guantanamo.
Authorities have released about 700 suspected militants who went through a program designed to reeducate them about proper Islamic conduct. The program began three years ago after a wave of militant violence, beginning with attacks on Western compounds in Riyadh in 2003, struck the Kingdom.
