Ghanaian gov't urged to produce agreement on Gitmo duo

Ghana's Supreme Court has ordered the state to release documents regarding the agreement between the Ghanaian government and the United States concerning the transfer of two ex-detainees of Guantanamo Bay for a two-year stay in Ghana.

The order followed a suit filed by two citizens, Margaret Bamfo, an 86-year-old retired Conference Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Henry Nana Boakye, a law student at the Supreme Court.

The two are seeking to declare that President John Mahama acted unconstitutionally by bringing the Al-Qaida terrorists to Ghana.

Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were flown into Ghana from Guantanamo Bay in January this year.

According to the apex court, the agreement, which government insists was a note verbal, is not covered by the state Secrecy Act and this can be given to the lawyers and admitted into evidence, local media Joy Fm reported.

On January 6 this year, Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Serwaa Tetteh announced that Ghana had accepted a plea from the International Criminal Tribunal to provide shelter for two cleared terrorist suspects of Yemeni origin who were detained in Guantanamo Bay prison by U.S. authorities.

The announcement sparked protests from the citizenry who feared the two ex-detainees could pose a security threat to Ghana, causing the minister to be hauled before Parliament to give the legislators a briefing.

At Thursday's hearing of the case in Accra, the apex court ordered that the documents be released for the sole consumption of the court as evidence during the case. Endit