RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 5 (UPI) -- A Saudi lawyer representing the families of prisoners held in Guantanamo prison has asked U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help secure their release.
In a letter addressed to Pelosi during her visit to Riyadh Thursday, Kateb al-Shammari said the families of the Saudi detainees in the U.S. military prison in Cuba were "confident of your great role as representatives of the American people in dealing with this issue as quickly as possible and in line with international humanitarian law and American laws ... which respect human rights and basic freedoms."
Pelosi is currently in the Saudi kingdom as part of a tour of the Middle East that has taken her to Lebanon and Syria.
Shammari wrote that Saudi inmates are spending their sixth year in Guantanamo "without any regard for international laws and charters," complaining they are being held without being charged or tried. "This enormous humanitarian case is reflecting adversely on the families who are still waiting for the return of their sons to the kingdom."
The appeal came amid reports the U.S. authorities plan to repatriate another batch of Saudi prisoners from Guantanamo later this month after a few dozen were gradually released to the Saudi authorities since late last year. Around 76 Saudis remain in the prison.
In a related development, Amnesty International Thursday expressed its concern over what it said were the deteriorating conditions of the Guantanamo detainees in a report on the facility. It again urged the U.S. government to shut it down and release the detainees or give them fair trials, saying the prison violates international humanitarian standards.
