Yemen asks U.S. to probe Guantanamo detainee death

SANAA, June 15 (Reuters) Yemen called today for a further investigation into the death of a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo who the US military said committed suicide.

The state news agency Saba quoted an official source as saying the death ''reflects the inhumane condition of detainees in Gitmo (Guantanamo)''.

The US military had identified the Yemeni as Ali Abdullah Ahmed and said he and two Saudi detainees had hanged themselves with clothes and bedsheets in their cells.

They were found dead on June 10, the first prisoners to die at the base in Cuba since Washington began sending suspected al Qaeda and Taliban captives there in 2002.

The Yemeni authorities asked the United States to conduct another probe into the incident, the official source said.

''The Yemeni government is very worried over the fate of other Yemenis and different nationals in the US camp,'' the official said, adding that it also asked for detainees to be handed back to their countries for trial.

The families of the three detainees have questioned the circumstances of their deaths, saying the men, all devout Muslims, would not have committed suicide.

Islam prohibits suicide and promises harsh, after-life punishment for those who take their own lives.

The deaths renewed criticism of the base, which many human rights groups and some governments say should be closed. Almost all the prisoners at Guantanamo are being held without charge and some have been detained for more than three years.

There have been many previous suicide attempts at Guantanamo, where the US military holds 460 foreigners captured mainly in Afghanistan during the US-led war there to oust the Taliban and al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Yemen has cracked down on militants at home and positioned itself as an ally of the United States in its ''war on terror''.

REUTERS CH BST1920