Freed Bahrainis from Guantanamo Reunited with Families

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Three Bahrainis freed from the infamous US Guantanamo Bay camp, were reunited with family and friends last night.

They had suffered more than three years in captivity at the military prison in Cuba.

Earlier, the three - Adel Kamel Hajee, Abdulla Al Nuami and Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa - were questioned by Bahrain's public prosecution before being allowed home.

They were among six Bahrainis held at the notorious camp after the 2001 war to oust the Taliban and Al Qaeda from Afghanistan.

The other three are Essa Al Murbati, Salah Abdula Rasool Al Blooshi and Juma Al Dossary.

"No measures were taken against the freed men, it was a routine prosecution procedure," said MP Mohammed Khalid - an outspoken supporter of the captives.

Information Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar said His Majesty King Hamad had raised the plight of the detainees with US officials during a visit to Washington.

The freed detainees are under strict instructions not to speak to members of the Press, particularly about their experience at Guantanamo Bay.

Families of the three held majlises in their respective homes to allow well-wishers a chance to welcome the returned men, and urged that the remaining three Bahraini detainees should not be forgotten.

Saudi state media said a Saudi detainee, Majed Al Shamri, had returned to Saudi Arabia yesterday. The four men returned a day after five Kuwaitis held in Guantanamo came home.

The Pentagon has said more than 250 detainees have left Guantanamo after a review of their cases and that approximately 500 remained.

PHOTO CAPTION

Adel Kamil Abdullah al-Haji, a Bahraini detained for nearly four years at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, speaks with his brother Abdullah. right, on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005, in Muharraq, Bahrain, hours after returning home. (AP)

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