US sends 2 Kuwaitis home from Guantanamo prison

WASHINGTON, Sep 14 (Reuters) The United States has sent two Kuwaiti detainees back to their home country from the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, leaving about 455 detainees at the prison for foreign terrorism suspects, the Pentagon said today.

The Pentagon, as is its practice, did not identify the men, but a Kuwaiti group said they were Omar Rajab Amin, 41, and Abdullah Kamel al-Kandari, 32, both held for more than four years without being charged.

Their release came after Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah met President George W Bush at the White House last week.

David Cynamon, a lawyer for the two men, said he expected they will face investigation and trial in Kuwait to determine if there was any merit to the US claim that they were ''enemy combatants'' and security risks. Six Kuwaitis previously sent back from Guantanamo all have been cleared by the Kuwaiti legal system, Cynamon said.

Before being sent to Guantanamo, the two were turned over to US forces in Afghanistan after being picked up by bounty hunters, Cynamon said. Amin is a father of five children and Kandari a father of four.

Four other Kuwaitis -- Fawzi al-Odah, Fayiz al-Kandari, Fouad Mahmoud al-Rabiah and Khalid al-Mutairi -- remain at Guantanamo out of 12 who had been there, according to the Kuwaiti Family Committee, which lobbies for them.

''We're delighted and gratified at their release, but in our view they should have had an opportunity much, much sooner than this to have a fair hearing to determine whether they should have been at Guantanamo at all,'' Cynamon said.

The Pentagon said in a statement the two men were sent back to Kuwait after a review by a military administrative board that annually considers the cases of all detainees.

''The United States does not desire to hold detainees for any longer than necessary,'' the Pentagon statement said.

The United States has faced international criticism for the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo, which opened in January 2002. Rights groups and others have accused the United States of torture and abuse of detainees.

The Pentagon said detainees are treated humanely, and that Guantanamo remains a vital facility to hold and interrogate dangerous terrorism suspects.

While about 455 detainees remain at Guantanamo, about 320 detainees others have been sent back to other countries, the Pentagon said.

Reuters VJ VP0145