Last 3 French Guantanamo inmates return home
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-08 09:11

The last three French citizens held by U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba arrived back in France on Monday, the French Justice Ministry said.

"They are now being transferred to prison," said a ministry official, declining to be named.

"They will appear before a judge, maybe tomorrow. It's on him to decide (whether they will be released)," said the official.

View of Camp Delta at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The last three French 'war on terror' detainees at the base were returned to France and immediately detained as part of a terrorist investigation, officials said.[AFP/File]

The three men were captured in 2001 or early 2002 after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban government and its al Qaeda allies. They were taken to the U.S. military camp at Guantanamo as suspected Islamist militants.

Earlier this year, a government source identified the three as Ridouane Khalid, Khaled ben Mustapha and Moustak Ali Patel.

The source said that on their return a French judge could launch an investigation into the three men for "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise" if it was deemed they entered Afghanistan to enroll in an al Qaeda training camp.

Four other French citizens captured in 2001 and 2002 in Afghanistan by the U.S. military and detained at Guantanamo Bay were returned to France last July and remain in detention despite several release requests by their lawyers.

Judicial authorities are investigating them on terrorism charges.

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