Minister Confirms Us Handover Of Two Malaysian Guantanamo Bay Inmates

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The government has confirmed the return of two Malaysians under detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Malaysia had accepted the US authorities' decision to repatriate Mohammed Nazir Lep and Mohamad Farik Amin, who were arrested and detained in connection with terror-linked attacks.
"The government has designed a comprehensive reintegration programme specifically for the two individuals, comprising support services, welfare assistance and health screening.
"The Home Ministry records our gratitude to various government agencies involved in concluding the handover process," he said in a statement today.
However, the minister did not mention whether the duo will be freed or continue their detention in Malaysia.
Nazir (above, left), 48 and Farik, 47, were among seven arrested over alleged involvement in the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that killed 202 people, as well as the bombing at the JW Marriott Jakarta Hotel in August 2003 that killed 12.
The duo was reportedly detained in Thailand in 2003 and transferred to US Central Intelligence Agency-operated black sites before being relocated to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, but never faced trial until January this year.
Duo agrees to plea bargain
Separately, the US Defence Department earlier today announced the duo's repatriation to Malaysia and that they had each pleaded guilty before a military commission to multiple offences.
According to the US DOD, the offences include murder in violation of the law of war, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, conspiracy, and destruction of property in violation of the law of war.
It was previously reported that both men, under a plea bargain, reached agreements with prosecutors at Guantanamo Bay to charges of being accessories to the terrorist attacks in Bali, where after a short trial, US military judge Wesley A Braun delivered a five-year jail sentence.
Under the plea bargain, they will have to testify against Encep Nurjaman, aka Hambali, the former leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah movement - an affiliate of Al-Qaeda - and the mastermind of the Bali bombings.
Encep Nurjaman aka HambaliOn June 13, the Convening Authority recommended that both men be repatriated or transferred to a third-party sovereign nation to serve the remainder of the approved sentence, the department said.
Subsequently, US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III notified the US Congress last month of the repatriation plan, which was communicated to Putrajaya. - Mkini

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