Ireland agrees to take 2 Guantanamo inmates from Uzbekistan

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Wednesday July 29, 2009 16:24 by redjade

Ireland has agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern announced Wednesday.

Ahern said the two men belong to a group of about 50 inmates who are "no longer regarded as posing a threat to security but who cannot return to their own countries." He declined to identify them, but other officials confirmed that both are from Uzbekistan and seized in neighboring Afghanistan in bitterly disputed circumstances.

Ahern's announcement came as he met newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney following a visit last week by Irish officials to Washington and Guantanamo.

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Two government officials with knowledge of the case — speaking on condition of anonymity because they were breaching the government's official position — said both men are Uzbek nationals. One, 31-year-old Oybek Jabbarov, has been the focus of several months' campaigning by Irish human rights groups seeking to bring him to Ireland.