The US government released the most extensive list yet of the hundreds of detainees who have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison -- nearly all labeled enemy combatants, but only a handful of whom have faced formal charges.
In all, 558 people were named in the list provided by the Pentagon on Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press. They were among the first swept up for suspected links to al-Qaeda or the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
The list is the first official roster of Guantanamo detainees who passed through the Combatant Status Review Tribunal process in 2004 and last year to determine whether they should be deemed "enemy combatants." Those named are from Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and 39 other countries. Many have been held at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years.
PHOTO: AP
Some names are familiar, such as David Hicks, a Muslim from Australia charged with fighting US and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He is one of 10 detainees selected to be tried by a military tribunal on charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Hicks allegedly fought for the Taliban, and Australian news media have said British authorities contend he admitted undergoing training with British Islamic extremists, including Richard Reid, who was convicted of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner with a shoe bomb.
Lesser-known detainees on the list include Muhammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who reportedly was supposed to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks. Although his presence at Guantanamo had been reported, the military had previously declined to confirm it.
US authorities denied al-Qahtani entry at Orlando, Florida, before the suicide hijackings. But testimony in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui quoted an al-Qaeda leader as describing al-Qahtani as the last hijacker for the mission who would "complete the group."
Others on the list, such as an Afghan identified as "Commander Chaman," remain mysterious.
In all, the detainees on the list came from 41 countries. The largest number -- 132 -- came from Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan followed with 125, then Yemen with 107.
The list had been previously accessible by the International Committee for the Red Cross, but the US defense department had determined it was now "prudent" to release the list to the public, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician said.
Partial, unofficial lists of Guantanamo Bay detainees have been compiled in the past by news organizations, lawyers and human rights groups.
The US government had previously declined to release any list of names except the 10 who have been formally charged.
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