Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said Sunday the U.S. Administration will soon hand over five Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainees to the Kuwaiti government. The ambassador told Kuwait News Agency "KUNA" that "intensive Kuwaiti-American talks are underway to craft a mechanism for the handover of those detainees." Ambassador Al-Sabah said "the U.S. administration's agreement to hand over the five detainees is the result of continuous efforts by the Kuwaiti government ... topped by The Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed." The ambassador pointed out that Sheikh Sabah raised the issue of Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo during recent official talks in Washington with President George W. Bush. Sheikh Salem recalled that Sheikh Sabah demanded during a follow up message to President Bush a fair and swift solution to the problem of Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo. The ambassador added that Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah continued efforts with U.S. State Department officials responsible for the case of Guantanamo detainees on the sidelines of United Nations meetings in New York last September. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah had announced last month that "the U.S. administration is ready to deliver five out of 11 Kuwaiti detainees in Guantanamo pending logistical procedures." The Kuwaiti ambassador here pointed out that the five detainees will face trial in Kuwait. U.S. authorities had handed one ex-Guantanamo detainee to the Kuwaiti government earlier this year.
