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Eddins: Three Guantanamo Detainees Present No Risk to Slovakia
Tuesday 19 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 19 (TASR) - Three detainees in the prison of Guantanamo whom Slovakia has pledged to take in represents no immediate threat to its citizens, said U.S. charge d'affairs to Slovakia Keith Eddins at a news conference on Tuesday.
Those detainees the American side is looking to resettle in third countries, including the three in Slovakia, fall into no high-risk class, said Eddins who disagrees with the views questioning security of this action.
He reiterated that "the three detainees coming to Slovakia ended up in Guantanamo but have been judged to be no longer a threat, not prosecutable, not subject to any kind of further proceedings... but at the same time we weren't in a position to release them to their home country. We needed to find some place for them to go. And that's when Slovak government stepped forward and offered to provide assistance to an ally, to offer them a place to resettle."
According to Eddins, U.S. is very appreciative of the Slovak government's decision to accept three Guantanamo detainees for resettlement in Slovakia.
Slovakia has joined ten other European countries in their willingness to accept some of the detainees, and it advances not just US goals, but the interest of the western world - removing Guantanamo as a source of tension, said Eddins.
"That how long the detainees will stay in Slovakia will be up to them. The hope is that they will integrate into the Slovak society... and if the integration goes well, they could stay here forever. If it doesn't, it's possible that they could leave after a period of time," he said.
Eddins stressed that in transferring the detainees to Slovakia, they will no more be deemed to be prisoners. "They are here to resettle," he underlined.
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