Spokesman for the humanitarian organization in Riyadh, Amad Ba-Rayyan, said the Red Crescent was coordinating with the International Committee for the Red Cross in Kuwait to set up a visual communication unit through the online telephone service Skype.

The facility would be based at the Red Crescent’s international affairs unit in the Kingdom to allow Saudi families to communicate with their detained relatives at Guantanamo.

Ba-Rayyan confirmed that an initial test with the Red Cross in Kuwait was successful and the full program would be launched within the next few weeks.

He also confirmed that the US government’s approval was sought through the Red Cross, while detainees’ families from outside Riyadh would be brought in to communicate with their sons and relatives.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is based in Geneva and is separate from the American Red Cross, was founded in 1863 as an independent, neutral organization intended to provide humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war.

The Red Cross has been conducting visits to Guantanamo since January 2002. It also enables those detained at Guantanamo Bay to remain in contact with their families.