Pentagon Releases List of Gitmo Detainees

The U.S. government released the most extensive list yet of the hundreds of detainees who have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison - nearly all labeled enemy combatants, but only a handful of whom have faced formal charges.

In all, 558 people were named in the list provided by the Pentagon on Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information lawsuit by The Associated Press.
...

Some names are familiar, such as David Hicks, a Muslim from Australia charged with fighting U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He is one of 10 detainees selected to be tried by a military tribunal, on charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Hicks allegedly fought for the Taliban, and Australian news media have said British authorities contend he admitted undergoing training with British Islamic extremists, including Richard Reid, who was convicted of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner with a shoe bomb.

Lesser-known detainees on the list include Muhammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who reportedly was supposed to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Although his presence at Guantanamo had been reported, the military had previously declined to confirm it.

U.S. authorities denied al-Qahtani entry at Orlando, Fla., before the suicide hijackings. But testimony in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui quoted an al-Qaida leader as describing al-Qahtani as the last hijacker for the mission who would "complete the group."

Others on the list, such as an Afghan identified only as "Com
mander Chaman," remain mysterious.

In all, the detainees on the list came from 41 countries. The largest number - 132 - came from Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan followed with 125, then Yemen with 107.
...