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| Caribbean |
| U.S. frees 3 teens at Guantanamo base |
| 2004-01-29 |
| Three teenagers who have been held with other prisoners at a U.S. military detention camp in Cuba have been released to their home country, the U.S. Defense Department said Thursday. They had to be forced out. Something about that Caribbean weather. The teenagers were detained for more than a year at the U.S. naval complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Defense Department didn’t identify the detainees’ country. Seeing that Afghanistan was a magnet for jihadis, this could be anywhere. But we can narrow it down somewhat: Europe, Mid East, Pakistan. They were part of hundreds rounded up when the U.S. military ousted Afghanistan’s Taliban regime for providing haven to al Qaeda, the terrorist network blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks. Those held are suspected terrorists or supporters of the Taliban. All three youths were under the age of 16, the Defense Department said. Two were captured during raids on Taliban camps and the other while trying to get weapons to fight U.S. forces, the department said. In a written statement, the Pentagon said that "the juvenile detainees no longer posed a threat to our nation, that they have no further intelligence value and that they are not going to be tried by the U.S. government for any crimes." Last year human rights groups became The Gitmo YMCA, heh. Thursday’s statement said the teens had been housed in a separate detention facility and were not restricted in the same manner as adults. They also were provided educational opportunities in their native language and were allowed recreational activity, the military said. One even became a Rhodes scholar. The Pentagon did not provide the identities or locations of where the teens are returning, citing concerns that al Qaeda or Taliban sympathizers might threaten them. They didn’t carry weapons for the Taliban without some sort of guidance from their elders. The statement said nongovernment organizations will help the youths re-integrate into civilian society. They better hurry up before they become students of the Religion of Peace(tm) once again. |
| Posted by:Rafael |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-1-29 10:08:51 PM |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-29 1:28:40 PM |