Four Afghans held for more than a decade in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent home to Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Saturday, in the latest step of a push by US President Barack Obama’s administration to close the facility.
The men were flown to Kabul overnight aboard a US military aircraft and released to Afghan authorities, the first such transfer of its kind to the nation since 2009, a US official said.
Obama promised to shut the internationally condemned prison when he took office nearly six years ago, citing the damage it inflicted on the US’ image around the world. However, he has been unable to do so, partly because of the US Congress.
Photo: Reuters
The repatriation of the four Afghans, identified as “low-level detainees” who were cleared for transfer long ago, had been planned for months.
However, in a measure of what one senior US official described as an improving relationship with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Washington went ahead with the transfer after he formally requested it.
The men — identified as Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir — were detained on suspicion of being members of the Taliban or affiliated groups.
However, a second senior US official said: “Most if not all of these accusations have been discarded and each of these individuals at worst could be described as low-level, if even that.”
The Afghan government gave the US “security assurances” for the treatment of the men and was expected to reunite them with their families, the official said.
Obama said in a TV interview set for broadcast yesterday that he did not consider the cyberattack on Sony Corp that has been blamed on North Korea to be an act of war, but rather cybervandalism.
Obama and his advisers are weighing up how to respond to the incident, which prompted Sony to withdraw a movie about North Korea called The Interview.
“No, I don’t think it was an act of war. I think it was an act of cybervandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately,” Obama told CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley.
Obama also said the US might put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
GLOBAL SUPPORT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the motion highlighted the improper exclusion of Taiwan from international discussion and cooperative mechanisms Taiwan yesterday thanked the British parliament for passing a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the latest body to reject China’s interpretation of the resolution. The House of Commons on Thursday debated the international status of Taiwan and unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion stating that the House “notes that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the political status of Taiwan or establish PRC [People’s Republic of China] sovereignty over Taiwan and is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the UN and on Taiwanese participation in UN agencies.” British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Parliamentary
HIGH ALERT: The armed forces are watching for a potential military drill by China in response to the president’s trip, with the air force yesterday conducting an exercise President William Lai (賴清德) is to make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during his seven-day trip to the South Pacific, his first official visit since taking office in May, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Lai, accompanied by a delegation, is scheduled to depart for the South Pacific on a chartered flight at 4:30pm tomorrow, stopping first in Hawaii for a two-night layover before traveling to the Marshall Islands, an office official said. After wrapping up his visits to the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the president is to transit through Guam, spending a night there before flying to Palau,
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such