US sends home 14 Saudis held at Guantanamo

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) Fourteen Saudi Arabian nationals in US custody at the Guantanamo Bay prison for foreign terrorism suspects have been sent home, the Pentagon today said.

It said the latest repatriation leaves about 120 detainees that the United States has determined are eligible for ''transfer or release'' and about 450 prisoners in total.

''Departure of these remaining detainees approved for transfer or release is subject to ongoing discussions between the United States and other nations,'' the Pentagon said in a statement.

Many of the men held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were captured in Afghanistan in the US-led war to oust the Taliban after the September. 11 attacks. Many have been held for years and nearly all are being held without charge.

The Pentagon said the latest transfer brought the number of detainees who have been released from Guantanamo to approximately 310. An Afghan official said on June 14 that all 96 Afghans held at Guantanamo would soon be returned to Afghanistan.

International criticism of US treatment of the prisoners grew this month after three men held there committed suicide.

Washington has designated the Guantanamo prisoners as ''enemy combatants,'' denying them the prisoner-of-war status that would guarantee certain rights under international law.

President George W Bush has said he would like to shut the prison, but that it was important first to clarify how the inmates held there might be tried.

The US Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on the legitimacy of special military tribunals set up to try some of the prisoners for war crimes.

REUTERS SB RK2212