Off the wire
• Turkey to invite Egypt to Islamic summit in Istanbul  • ADB's cooperation with AIIB is "kind of a win-win": ADB president  • Zambia power utility denies accusations of causing job losses in mines  • Kenya's Masai rebound from injury, sets focus on Olympics  • IMF says regional economic growth in Africa affected by low oil price, mounting insecurity  • Kenya's Karako targets gold in Rio Olympics, World Half Marathon  • FAO predicts poor crop yields in Zambia due to poor rains  • Kenya's Kogo to use Paris marathon performance to secure Olympic slot  • China, South Korea exchange views on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue  • Two-game Cup ban for Suarez  
You are here: 　 Home

Civil society group opposes transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana

Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Civil society group, Taxpayers Alliance on Friday urged the U.S. government to revert immediately the decision to transfer two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana.

Ghana, at the request of the International Tribunal and the U.S. government, accepted to house two Yemeni persons in the country on humanitarian grounds.

Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, 38, and Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef, 36, were expected to be sent back to Yemen but the Arab country has become unsafe following internal conflict there.

The two had been detained in a military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since 2002.

Executive Director of Tax Payers Alliance, Frank Asiedu Bekoe, in a statement released here, said Ghanaians were worried at the decision to transfer the duo, both Al-Qaeda operatives, to Ghana.

The group expressed security concerns for the West African country ahead of its presidential and parliamentary elections in November.

The decision has angered some Ghanaians who believe the two men may pose security threats to the country.

But the government has assured the citizenry that necessary checks had been made before the stance was arrived at. Endit