Three Afghans and one Pakistani held at base return home

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United States has released four al-Qaida and Taliban suspects from Guantanamo Bay, the first detainees to leave the island prison because they no longer pose a threat, officials said Monday.

Three Afghan detainees were handed over Sunday to Afghan officials at Bagram Air Base, Red Cross and U.S. officials said. The fourth detainee, a Pakistani, was flown on to Pakistan.

"We're confirming that four were transferred for release," said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Burfeind.

Even with the departures, the number of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo rose above 600 with the arrival of a planeload of about 30 prisoners from an undisclosed location. Burfeind said the new total is "approximately 625."

The three Afghans arrived Sunday at Bagram, the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan, and were transferred to the custody of Afghan officials there in the presence of delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Red Cross spokeswoman Caroline Douilliez.

"They are still in the hands of the authorities, and it is up to them what happens next," Douilliez told The Associated Press.

Pakistani officials said they would hold the Pakistani citizen for "some time" and debrief him. He was identified as Mohammed Saghir, 60, from North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan.

'They're very old'

Little information was disclosed about the Afghans, but Kabul police chief Basir Salangi said, "They're very old. They look very sick." He said they were taken to a Red Cross hospital in Kabul.

Afghanistan state-run television said the three were Taliban.

Interior Minister Taj Mohammed Wardak said the Kabul government had received a letter informing them about the impending release, but heard nothing else.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld disclosed last week that the Pentagon was planning to release some prisoners after it was determined they were not candidates for prosecution, held no intelligence value and were not a threat to the United States and its allies.

The former detainees had been moved to Cuba by U.S. officials and held for months after their arrest in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban.

The Pentagon declined to go into detail about the former Guantanamo detainees, but Burfeind said the decision to return them to their countries was based on "the nature of the continuing threat they may pose."

Various factors were considered, including intelligence, law enforcement or medical considerations, she said.

White House envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who was visiting Kabul, said the United States was sending back "people who have been discovered not to pose a security risk, that were not involved in al-Qaida terrorist programs and who did not have any more useful information in terms of what we need to know."

One of the primary reasons for detaining the Guantanamo prisoners had been "to find out what we can about future plans, to be able to stop, disrupt those activities," he said.

Until this week's release and new arrivals, the United States had been holding 598 men from 43 countries, calling them enemy combatants and saying it may legally hold them until the end of hostilities.

'We are encouraged'

Thomas Wilner, a lawyer who has been pressing Washington to release 12 Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, expressed disappointment that none of them were among the first to be let out.

But, Wilner said, "we are encouraged by this first step and hope the Kuwaitis will be released soon. The process of releasing innocent people has begun."

Pakistan's government has appealed for the release of the remaining 57 Pakistanis, maintaining they are all innocent.

Pakistan is a key supporter of the U.S.-led coalition forces in the war against terrorism, but thousands of militants from Pakistan crossed into Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks to fight against U.S.-led coalition forces.

The United States has previously transferred two detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Last May, an Afghan suffering from schizophrenia was sent back to Afghanistan. A second man, Yasser Esam Hamdi, 22, was flown to the United States in April after records showed he was an American citizen.