Bahraini Ministry Officials to Visit Guantanamo Detainees

07/01/2005| IslamWeb

A two-member security delegation from the Interior Ministry will leave tomorrow to the US to visit the six Bahrainis still being held at Guantanamo Bay. The delegation, headed by the Criminal Investigation Directorate's Financial Crime Fighting director Colonel Adel Al Fadhel, will meet with the detainees from Monday to Friday. "The objective of the visit is to learn about the health conditions and safety of the detainees and discuss with officials the means for their release and their safe return home to their families," Col Al Fadhel told the GDN. This is the delegation's fourth visit to the high-security Camp Delta. The first visit was on April 2, 2002, when the delegation visited the camp to inspect the conditions of the detainees and listen to their complaints as well as carry out initial negotiations with officials for their release. Col Al Fadhel said his delegation would further inquire about the conditions of the detainees and follow up on the negotiations which first started in 2002 and were later reviewed during subsequent visits in 2003 and last year. "We will also be delivering to the detainees letters from their families, whom we have been in touch with to ensure that they are able to communicate with their sons," he said. The delegation, said Col Al Fadhel, would also deliver letters and convey messages from the detainees to their families upon their return. Details of the visit were discussed yesterday at a meeting organised by the Foreign Ministry and attended by representatives from the Shura Council, Parliament and Bahrain Human Rights Society. Representatives attending the meeting would not comment on issues discussed at the meeting. Meanwhile, a Foreign Ministry statement issued yesterday said the meeting was held in view of "recent reports on the intention of the US authorities to look into the release of a number of detainees and send them back to their countries". It said the meeting discussed all contacts made to follow up on the detainees' cases and the efforts exerted "at all levels with the US and other authorities for their release." The ministry said the visit was the result of efforts it exerted through the Bahrain Embassy in Washington DC and the US Embassy here to prepare for the visit of the security delegation. The six detainees held at the camp are Juma Mohammed Al Dossary, Essa Al Murbati, Salah Abdul Rasool Al Blooshi, Adel Kamel Hajee, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Abdulla Majid Al Naimi. They are among almost 600 men held for over two years after being arrested by the US on suspicion of being "enemy combatants." Four of the detainees have been held as "enemy combatants" while the other two are held on different charges. Shaikh Salman is detained on charges to alleged links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda and traveling to Afghanistan in 2001 to train under a member of Al Qaeda explosives team. Mr Al Naimi, claims the US government, was captured as a Taliban fighter and had travelled to Afghanistan in 2001 to fight for the group and die in the Jihad. Lawyers from the New York-based firm Dorsey and Whitney are acting on behalf of the six Bahrainis free of charge as part of a global effort to provide free legal support to all Camp Delta prisoners. The families of the detainees granted permission for the lawyers to act on behalf of their sons after talks organised through the now dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. The lawyers were allowed into Guantanamo Bay in October to meet their clients for the first time. They have since been given access to classified information that explains the reasons for their detention. The Foreign Ministry had also appointed a lawyer earlier last year to handle the case of the six prisoners. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Muslim prisoners wash before midday prayer at Camp X-Ray, the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AFP)