LONDON, July 22 (UPI) -- Amnesty International welcomed the release by Syrian authorities of Usra al-Hussein, the wife of a Guantanamo Bay detainee.
Amnesty said it had lobbied for her release, claiming she was held in Syrian custody without charge or trial. She was released July 18.
The international rights group said it believes Hussein was imprisoned because she had attempted to contact an international organization regarding the U.S. detention of her husband, Jehab Diab.
Diab has been held at the U.S. naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a so-called enemy combatant since 2002.
Usra, a Syrian national, was arrested in July 2008 by Syrian authorities. Syria takes a harsh stance on affiliation with what Amnesty describes as "unauthorized Islamic groups."
Syrian human-rights groups claim several people were arrested in the country because authorities believed their appearance and cultural practices suggested ties to Islamic groups.
Amnesty claimed she was held incommunicado, but stressed it had no information on her treatment or condition while in Syrian custody.
