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Saudis Release 29 During Ramadan Detainees Will Flee, U.S. Fears

By Carol J. Williams, Rich Connell And Robert J. Lopez
The Los Angles Times
October 25, 2006

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba --  U.S. officials, apparently caught off guard by the Saudi government's recent release of more than two dozen former Guantanamo Bay prisoners, are expressing fear that the men will join violent extremist groups.

Saudi officials said the 29 men were released from jail so that they could take part in the Islamic observance of Ramadan and were instructed to return to custody by the end of this month.

Although the men are still under investigation for possible terrorist ties, Saudi officials said they were not considered serious threats. "Throwing people in jail and letting them rot is not the answer," said Nail Al-Jubier, spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

The commander at the sprawling camp here for terrorism suspects was skeptical about that.

"I'm interested in if they go back to the fight," said Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, citing U.S. estimates that about 50 of 300 men released since Guantanamo opened in 2002 have resumed plotting against U.S. interests worldwide.

The temporary release of the Saudis illustrates the limits of U.S. influence as the administration seeks to shrink the population of the Guantanamo camp by transferring prisoners to other nations. It also underscores how differently the United States and other countries, including Britain and Germany, perceive the danger posed by former detainees.

Of the 437 captives at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, 110 have been cleared for release to their home countries, and more are being added to the list. Officials have said fewer than 100 prisoners will face military tribunals, leaving 300 or more to be repatriated.

Guantanamo has come under increasing international criticism from U.S. allies and continues to be dogged by allegations of prisoner abuse. Administration officials emphasize that the camp will be needed for the foreseeable future, but they maintain that the ultimate goal is to close it.

Some nations have refused to accept Guantanamo detainees, either denying responsibility for them or balking at U.S. demands for elaborate security measures.

Critics say the problem has been exacerbated by the Bush administration's failure to make plans earlier for releasing prisoners.

Detainees from Saudi Arabia make up one of the largest groups at the Guantanamo camp. Saudi prisoners have come under particular scrutiny, in part because of the nation's fundamentalist strain of Islam and the fact that most of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks were Saudi nationals.

So it was not surprising that the mass release for Ramadan raised eyebrows among U.S. officials.

"We're certainly hoping they don't come back and haunt us," said a senior State Department official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Saudi officials said the men were released to their families to help rehabilitate them. "The idea is to slowly bring them back into the fold of society," Al-Jubier said.

But Harris, the prison commander, said he had an obligation to know what would become of the men in his custody.

Part of his mission, he said, is to "keep enemy combatants off the battlefield. ... I take it very seriously whether a detainee is going to get to go home or not."

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