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AP. 18 January 2002. Bosnian Authorities Hand Over Six Algerians Held on Suspicion of Terrorist Links. SARAJEVO -- Bosnia turned over six Algerians suspected of having terrorist links to U.S. military authorities early Friday, despite a ruling by the country's highest court that they be released. The men, who were rounded up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, are now in the custody of U.S. forces, said Naval Cmdr. Rex Totty, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. A senior U.S. official in Europe, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press they would be taken within days to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where dozens of al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners are detained. "We don't want them to stay in the theater very long," the official said. The United States requested the handover after Bosnia's highest court cited a lack of evidence in ordering the men's release Thursday. It was not immediately clear where the men were or if they had left the country. U.S. Maj. Mike Odom, spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia, would only say the six were taken to a "secure location." The handover early Friday came after an all-night standoff outside the jail in Sarajevo where the men had been held since October. Hours after the court's late night order, crowds formed outside the holding facility. Some 300 family members, friends and other supporters of the six men expressed alarm about rumors that they were to be extradited out of the country. Police using batons dispersed the crowd at about 5 a.m. and the men were driven away. Most of the men worked for various Islamic humanitarian agencies in Bosnia and one had Algerian, Bosnian and Yemeni passports, officials said. Authorities withdrew the men's Bosnian citizenship while they were in jail. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights said the six were detained without being charged or presented with the evidence against them and had been interrogated without lawyers present. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
