Saudis Demand that the US Release Most of the Terrorists Held in Cuba.

CBS News - Saudis Want Detainees Turned Over ^ | Mon, 28 Jan 2002 20:25:04 EST -- BREAKING! | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

Saudis Want Detainees Turned Over

Saudi Minister: Over 100 Saudis Being Held At Guantanamo Bay

Jan. 28, 2002

Shackled Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners in orange jumpsuits, sit in holding area.

(CBS) So far, U.S. officials have steadfastly refused to identity by name or nationality the 158 men locked up at the American Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But Monday, Saudi Arabia claimed that nearly two-thirds of them were Saudi citizens – and the Saudis want them back, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

Although acknowledging that the men were captured during fighting inside Afghanistan, Interior Minister Prince Nayef told reporters, "The issue of prisoners is important to us and we ask that they be handed over to us so we can interrogate them."

But they're important to us, too, responded President Bush, who met at the White House with the new leader of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.

"We'll make a decision on a case-by-case basis as to whether they go back to Saudi Arabia or not. I appreciate his suggestion," said Mr. Bush.

And Pentagon officials made it clear they're in no hurry to return the Saudis.

"We have no desire to hold on to large numbers of detainees of any kind for any great length of time. But we want to make sure these people are not back out on the streets," said Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.

She said the nationalities of all the prisoners' had not yet been determined. U.S. officials have said they are considering sending some of the prisoners to their homelands on condition their governments punish them. Some may be tried by the United States for alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks and other terrorism.

Asked about handing over Saudi citizens, Clarke said prisoners would be repatriated to "those countries that we feel will handle them appropriately."

Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally in the Middle East, has come under criticism in the United States from some who say the Saudi government has done too little to crack down on terrorists and extremists within its borders.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers of the passenger jets that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11 were Saudis, according to U.S. officials. Saudi officials insist no Saudi involvement has been proven. Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida terror network is accused in the Sept. 11 attacks, was a Saudi national until his citizenship was revoked in the 1990s.

Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor, Yemen, has said it was also seeking information from the United States on 17 of its nationals it says are being held at the Guantanamo base.

At the White House, meanwhile, Mr. Bush said he is weighing legal questions on whether the Geneva Convention applies to the 158 suspected terrorists being held in Cuba. He pledged to treat them humanely, but said: "These are killers."

Mr. Bush and his national security advisers failed to resolve the issue at a Monday morning meeting, but said they agree that the detainees will not be considered prisoners of war, which could confer on them an array of rights.

"We are not going to call them prisoners of war," said Mr. Bush, who three times called them "prisoners" and then corrected himself to refer to them as "detainees."

"And the reason why is al-Qaida is not a known military," Mr. Bush said. "These are killers, these are terrorists, they know no countries. The only thing they know about country is when they find a country that's been weakened and they want to occupy it like a parasite."

Mr. Bush said he will listen to "all the legalisms, and announce my decision when I make it."

Some in the administration argue that the convention should apply. Others, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, believe that whether it applies is irrelevant because the al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners are "unlawful combatants" and therefore not deserving of prisoner-of-war status.

Regardless of the outcome of the debate over the Geneva Convention, the president and his national security aides are agreed that the prisoners are not POWs.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr. Bush's team agrees that the "core principles" of the convention should be observed, including providing food and medicine to the detainees. However, the national security team is split on whether the detainees are covered under the full weight of the Geneva Conventions, Fleischer said.

He said the conventions must be "interpreted in a modern light," now that the country is at war with terrorists. He added that the detainees were "lucky to be in the custody of our military because they're receiving three square meals a day."

"They're receiving health care that they've never received before, their sleeping conditions are probably better than anything they've had in Afghanistan, and they're being treated well because they're in the hands of the men and women of our military, and they're being treated well because that's what Americans do," Fleischer said.

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[Thumper1960]

"...Interior Minister Prince Nayef told reporters, "The issue of prisoners is important to us and we ask that they be handed over to us so we can interrogate them."

USA: "..........Ummmmmm..............No."

[MossbergPump]

If we are bluffing, we will back down and keep our base (for now, anyway). If we do not back down (i.e., we are not bluffing), the Saudis will either back down, or ask us to leave. (I do not think we would stay after being publicly told to leave.) I am confident that we are not bluffing. Therefore, the Saudis have a decision to make: back down, or ask us to leave. Given the internal situation in Saudi Arabia, my bet is that they ask us to leave. Then they could honestly say: ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Thumper1960]

Good luck freezing those Saudi assets. Scuttlebutt is that their a$$ets are dwindling very fast. The assorted Princes and Whores (oops!) are living the good life while the average Saudi is up crap creek....no water and no canoe. Too bad the Saudis are going down, big time.

[EternalHope]

Well said.

[texson66]

Good luck freezing those Saudi assets. Scuttlebutt is that their a$$ets are dwindling very fast. The assorted Princes and Whores (oops!) are living the good life while the average Saudi is up crap creek....no water and no canoe. Too bad the Saudis are going down, big time.

Maybe. But even if its their last 10 million, it will still be 10 million that they can't use to fund terrorists!

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

yes, and people who lost loved ones in the WTC attack want them back.

neither thing will happen.

Saudi Arabia + Napalm = good times for all!

[Dialup Llama]

>You got it Bob - tell them to go pound sand...

I've always wanted to tell a Saudi to pound sand. I mean it just fits.

[Bush2000]

Precisely

Now we're talking about issues that agree on. The Saudis lost jurisdiction over these guys when they went to Afghanistan and decided to fight for the terrorists. I'm all in favor of continuing a probe into how deep this runs into the Saudi government. But I'd hesitate before you jump to conclusions. Could be that some rich prick sand-rat has a kid among the terrorists and wants him returned. Fact is, we don't know the facts. But let's get the truth before we turn anybody over.

[ASTM366]

Send em' home in a casket.

[bjcintennessee]

Unfortunately we have already set a precedent by sending one of the Taliban prisoners back to his home country. Remember the traitor John Walker? Any day now the international community will point out how we treated one of our own 'former' citizens differently than the rest.

Walker should have been imprisoned with the rest of the scum. Instead, we let political pressure from bleeding hearts place us on shakey ground when the Saudi's, et al, demand -- er um, request that their citizens be returned to thier country of citizenship in a similar manner.

[takenoprisoner]

Dear Saudis,
The war on terrorism shall soon reach your shores as the evidence of your complicity in worldwide terrorism mounts.

I find your willingness to openly self indict incredible. Course it does make our job of seperating the wheat from the chaffe a little easier.

thanks for your cooperation,
tnp

[monday]

"Either way, it's a tenuous hold on power and it can't last forever in a modern world."

I'm sure the Sauds are saying one thing in public to appease the clerics, and their public, and another behind the scenes to washington, but this is the game they have always played, everyone is getting wise to it. I think their time is short. If your largest neighbor hates you and your people hate you, it seems unwise to also spit in the face of the most powerful country in the world as well, even if you don't mean it, especially if they are the only thing keeping your butt out of the fire. Even the US will get tired of this kind of treatment eventually? lol who am I kidding Washington will never take a moral stand. They will take it as long as we the people don't demand a change.

[takenoprisoner]

Send em' home in a casket.

No casket necessary when properly disposed.

[Centurion2000]

BE ADVISED THAT THE SAUDI'S MAY MOVE THEIR FINANCIAL ASSETS OUT OF WESTERN BANKS.

That's when Bush and co. freeze their assests and the gloves come off.

[Yougottabekidding]

It was Clevon Little, and what he really said would probably get me booted off the board. ".. or the N!$$^% gets it"... -Hilarious.

[sheik yerbouty]

America akbar!

[RichInOC]

And shortly after we go wheels up, everything at the base that can blow up, does blow up, the Crown Prince asks, "WHAT HAPPEN?" and the Defense Minister replies "SOMEBODY SET UP US THE BOMB."