CAIRO Ñ Egypt has learned that 30 of its nationals have been
detained and interrogated in a U.S. naval facility for Al Qaida insurgents.
Egyptian government sources said the Bush administration provided the
data to Cairo after more than a year of Egyptian requests regarding
information on detainees at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The sources
said the Egyptians were captured in the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in
October 2001 and suspected of fighting for Al Qaida and the then-ruling
Taliban movement.
The United States has allowed the International Committee for the Red
Cross to visit the Egyptian detainees, Middle East Newsline reported. The sources said Washington has
ignored Egyptian requests to provide additional information on its nationals
or consider their release.
"We have raised this issue in virtually every forum," an Egyptian
official said. "We simply sought to know about our citizens in Guantanamo.
Unfortunately, our requests were consistently ignored."
Last month, a U.S. interpreter and Egyptian national was
arrested and charged with possessing classified information on Camp Delta
detainees. The interpreter was said to have visited Egypt and has an uncle
who is a senior officer in military intelligence. Egypt has denied planting
spies in Guantanamo.
