Sixteen Saudis to be released from Guantanamo

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) Sixteen Saudi Arabian nationals will be released tomorrow from US custody at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said today.

Once back home, they will be jailed and put on trial, if a review of their cases shows a trial is justified, he told reporters after talks with US officials.

''If they prove guilty, they will be incarcerated; if they prove innocent, they will be let out,'' Saud said.

Eight Saudis have previously been released from Guantanamo Bay, where the United States has been holding more than 500 detainees since the Taliban and al Qaeda were ousted from Afghanistan in late 2001, including more than 100 Saudis.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon were Saudi nationals, as is al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Saud would not say how many Saudis will remain in detention after the latest release.

At least five of the released detainees were freed by Saudi Arabia last year after they completed their jail sentences.

Nearly all of the prisoners at Guantanamo are being held without charge and some have been held for more than three years.

The United States has designated them ''enemy combatants'' and denied them prisoner-of-war status, which brings certain rights under international law.

''It hasn't been easy but we're glad it's being solved,'' Saud said of the detainee issue.

He said the families have been ''clamoring'' for the return of their loved ones.

Reuters SK GC0056