Algeria says 8 of its nationals still detained without trial in Guantanamo

Algeria on Monday said eight of its nationals are still detained without trial in the U.S. detention camp of Guantanamo.

"Algeria is carrying on efforts with the United States as the legal procedures to transfer those eight prisoners are under way," Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Louh told a press conference after meeting with visiting French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira.

Louh further noted that "a couple of years ago, Algeria sent a mission to the U.S. in a bid to look at the issue of the 26 Algerian nationals detained in Guantanamo without trial, and most of whom arrested in Afghanistan for terrorism allegations."

"Our negotiations with the U.S. officials led to transferring 18 prisoners, all of whom were tried here in Algeria, as some of them were released, while some others were convicted," before Algerian courts, which acquitted some of them and convicted others," he specified.

Guantanamo is a military detention facility part of a U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba. It hosts people that were captured by U.S. forces in various operations conducted abroad, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, against potential militants and terrorists. Endit