THE UNITED STATES WILL SOON EXTRADITE ALL 96 AFGHANS, INCLUDING SEVERAL SENIOR TALIBAN OFFICIALS, BEING HELD AT ITS GUANTANAMO BAY PRISON CAMP FOR TERRORIST SUSPECTS, AN AFGHAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL SAID ON WEDNESDAY, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. THE PRISONERS WERE BEING EXTRADITED AS PART OF AN UNDERSTANDING REACHED BETWEEN U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI LAST YEAR AND WOULD BE TRIED BY AFGHAN COURTS, SAID ABDUL JABAR SABIT, AN INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL. SOME OF THE PRISONERS WOULD BE TRANSFERRED IMMEDIATELY AND THE OTHERS WOULD BE SENT BACK TO AFGHANISTAN LATER, SAID SABIT. "ALL OF THE AFGHAN PRISONERS WILL BE EXTRADITED IN DIFFERENT BATCHES," SAID SABIT, WHO WAS MEMBER OF AN OFFICIAL DELEGATION WHICH RECENTLY VISITED GUANTANAMO BAY, TOLD A NEWS CONFERENCE. HE SAID SEVERAL SENIOR TALIBAN OFFICIALS, INCLUDING A COMMERCE MINISTER IN THE RADICAL ISLAMIST REGIME OVERTHROWN IN 2001, WERE AMONG THOSE BEING HELD IN U.S. PRISON IN CUBA. HE DID NOT GIVE THE NAME OF THE MINISTER. "THOSE WHO ARE INNOCENT WILL BE RELEASED AND THOSE WHO HAVE COMMITTED CRIMES WILL BE PUNISHED," HE SAID.
