Yemen hails Gitmo detainee release decision

WASHINGTON, Sep. 27 (Saba) - A spokesman
for Yemen Washington embassy has welcomed the U.S. decision over the release of a
Yemeni
Guantanamo detainee and transferring him to his homeland.

Mohammed al-Basha highlighted the embassy efforts to release Ala'a Ali Bin Ali
Ahmed, detainee 692, from Yemen's port city of Aden, saying it had held talks and
meetings
with a number of U.S. top officials at the White House, Department of State and the
ministry of Justice to accelerate sending the detainee to his country.
A US judge ruled in May to release the Yemeni detainee for lack of evidence for his
involvement in terrorist plots and attacks.
Ala'a was arrested in 2002 by the Pakistani police in connection with running an
al-Qaeda cell. In the meantime, the embassy renewed Yemen's calls on the U.S. to
release
the remaining Yemeni detainees at the U.S. jail in Cuba.
Earlier president Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the U.S. to hand over the files of the
Yemeni Gitmo inmates, assuring the US those who could be proved involved in
plotting and
implementing attacks against the U.S. interests would receive fair trials under the
country's law.
Saleh also noted that he discussed with U.S. officials the preparation of
rehabilitation programs for the detainees.
Ala'a is the second Yemeni to be ordered freed after Salim Hamdan, Osama Bin
Laden's driver, was transferred to Yemen in November 2008.
Hamdan was tried under new military commission standards in August and found
charged with providing material support for terrorism.
He received a 66 month jail sentence after his attorneys recognized his minor role,
the decision which surprised U.S. defense officials.
Hamdan served about 61 months of his full term at Guantanamo and served out the rest
of his term in Yemen after the U.S. authorities agreed to transfer him to his
country.
Earlier Yemen urged its detainees should not stay at prison without trial, because
laws and international human rights accords never allow such measure.
Early this year, the U.S. announced it was considering sending some or all of the
Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia as it praised the kingdom's rehabilitation centers
and
programs.
The move was strongly resisted by Yemen, which urged its citizens must be sent
home, assuring it would do every thing to ensure their better integration into
their society.
FR