By ANTARA News/DPA,
Washington : The United States has released nine detainees from its prison in Guantanamo Bay, among them a Sudanese cameraman who worked with pan-Arab television network al-Jazeera, the Defence Department said Friday.
The Pentagon said five of the detainees were transferred to Afghanistan, three to Sudan and one to Morocco. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said all nine prisoners were to be released upon arrival.
Casey confirmed that al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj was among those released and sent to Sudan after six years in captivity. Al-Haj was captured near the Afghan-Pakistani border in December 2001 and was accused of being a member of the terrorist network al-Qaeda.
Al-Jazeera reported that al-Haj was force-fed the last 16 months after he went on a hunger strike at the Guantanamo facility in Cuba.
About 270 detainees are still being held at Guantanamo. The Defence Department said it was still looking for countries that would take in about 65 prisoners deemed eligible for release.
The US has released about 500 prisoners since 2002, but has often struggled to find countries that will accept the detainees and sought guarantees that they will not be tortured.