US Shipping Foreign Fighters to Home Prisons

American officials step up action to empty secret prisons

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 28, 2008 3:14 AM CDT

(Newser) – The US has stepped up efforts to return foreign fighters captured in Iraq and Afghanistan to their homelands, the New York Times reports. More than 200 detainees have been turned over to security services in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries as the military works to empty its controversial secret prisons—and dodge continuing problems at Guantanamo Bay.

"In discussions we agreed that Guantanamo was not working for lots of reasons and that the simplest way to proceed is to send them back home," said a former State Department official. Home countries are often better able to deal with the captured militants, according to officials. But critics have raised concerns about harsh treatment the returning men will face in prisons back home.

[Images (4)]

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US soldiers stand guard beside a line of detainees at the Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad. (Getty Images)

Guard patrols Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad. (Getty Images)

In this file photo, captured Central Asians alleged to be Islamic militants are presented before the media as an officer of Pakistan's army looks on. (AP Photo/M. Sajjad, File)

US soldiers lead a blindfolded Iraqi detainee at the Camp Cropper detention facility in Iraq. (Getty Images)

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The U.S. has aggressively looked for opportunities to repatriate detainees. In countries where we know they have a program to rehabilitate detainees, like Saudi Arabia, we’ve had good success. - Rear Admiral Gregory J. Smith

What you have is a situation in which the US wants to get all the Saudi prisoners to Saudi Arabia because the Saudis know how to deal with them. - a Saudi official

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US Shipping Foreign Fighters to Home Prisons