- WASHINGTON (Sapa-AP) -- The
United States military on Thursday released three teenaged boys - believed
to be between the ages of 13 and 15 - who had been accused of supporting
the Taliban and had been held at the prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, the American defence department announced.
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- The boys, who were sent back to their home country -
which was not identified - no longer posed a threat to the United States,
the Pentagon said. Nor do they have further value as interrogation subjects,
and are not going to be tried by the US government for any crimes, the
military said.
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- They were the youngest prisoners at the Guantanamo base,
which has held hundreds of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters since
the US-led war in Afghanistan that followed the September 11 attacks.
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- The boys' identities were not released. In a statement,
the Pentagon said their identities were being kept secret for fear of reprisals
against them. The three came from the same country, but the Pentagon would
not identify what that country was.
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- Two of the boys were captured during US raids on Taliban
camps in Afghanistan; the third was captured trying to obtain weapons for
the Taliban, the Pentagon said. Two had been at the Guantanamo prison since
January 2002; the third arrived later.
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- Human rights groups had campaigned for their release
for some time, saying the long separation from their families was hurting
the boys. In August, the general running Guantanamo agreed they should
be sent home but said he was awaiting orders from the Pentagon and other
US government agencies.
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- Aid groups will help resettle them in their home country,
the Pentagon said.
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- In November, officials at the base said the three were
kept apart from the other prisoners, including older boys aged 16 and 17.
They were given some freedom of movement within their section of the prison,
and guards said they liked to kick soccer balls.
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