| Some guantanamo captives free { May 5 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15966-2003May5.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15966-2003May5.html
U.S. Said to Free Some Guantanamo Captives
By PAULINE JELINEK The Associated Press Monday, May 5, 2003; 1:30 PM
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is preparing to free some two dozen terrorist suspects from its high-security prison in Cuba, defense officials said Monday.
The release is expected in the next several days, two senior Defense Department officials said on condition of anonymity.
They denied that the release is the result of a complaint by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has pressed the Pentagon to move faster in determining the fate of the prisoners at Guantanamo, some of whom have been held a year and a half without charges and without access to lawyers.
In what officials said was a "strongly worded" letter, Powell told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that eight allies had complained about the holding of their citizens. He said failure to handle the prisoners correctly was undermining efforts to win international cooperation in the war on terror.
Pentagon officials said Monday that the April 14 letter was not a factor in the upcoming release, which they said was in the planning process for four weeks.
© 2003 The Associated Press
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