Saudi Arabia says backs calls to close Guantanamo

RIYADH, June 25 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia today said it backs international calls to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, where around 450 militant suspects including some 90 Saudis are being held outside the jurisdiction of international law.

''Of course we support this and hopefully all the Saudis there will be returned to their homeland,'' Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz told reporters.

Fourteen Saudi nationals were sent to Riyadh yesterday, two weeks after three suicides at the facility thrust US handling of terrorism suspects back into the spotlight.

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

In May, the kingdom, a key US ally, received 15 Saudi detainees who it said would face trial if a review of their cases showed a trial was justified.

''Investigations are ongoing with them and the ones before them,'' Prince Nayef, one of the most powerful Saudi royals in the absolute monarchy, said of the batches of detainees.

The Pentagon said one of the 14 Saudis returned home yesterday was determined by a tribunal to no longer be an enemy combatant. It said the transfer of the other 13 was approved by an administrative review board.

Arab leaders have said little in public about Guantanamo. Critics say some are wary of offending the United States and others are glad that potential troublemakers are locked up.

REUTERS KD KN2339