AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Two prisoners held at a U.S. military prison in Afghanistan were handed over to Yemen on Tuesday, Yemeni security officials said.
The officials said the two Yemeni prisoners were transferred to Yemen from Bagram prison, north of Kabul. They didn’t elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Yemen’s Hood human rights organization identified the two prisoners as Amin al-Bakri and Fadi al-Maqaleh, who have been detained since 2002 when they were arrested in Pakistan. It called on the government to set them free.
U.S. forces are due to hand over control of the Bagram prison to Afghan forces when they pull out of the country in December.
Hood also said that there are more than 90 Yemeni detainees in US prison of Guantanamo, or two thirds of prisoners there and called for their handover to Yemen.
Yemen is home of what Washington perceive as the world’s most dangerous offshoot of the terror al-Qaida network.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
