RELEASE OF EGYPTIAN NATIONALS FROM GUANTANAMO

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 003687

SIPDIS

FOR S/WCI AND NEA/ELA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2015
TAGS: PTER PREL KAWC EG
SUBJECT: RELEASE OF EGYPTIAN NATIONALS FROM GUANTANAMO

REF: A. STATE 78994

B. STATE 47824

C. CAIRO 2494

D. STATE 34902

E. CAIRO 757

Classified by A/DCM Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) As instructed ref A, Embassy has gone back through
liaison channels to reiterate to the GOE the Department's
points on the cases of Sami Abd El Aziz Salem Allaithy and
Allah Muhammad Saleem, Egyptian detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Cuba. We have asked that the GOE expedite their response.


2. (C) As discussed in ref E, the Egyptian government has
expressed its willingness to accept its nationals detained in
Guantanamo and will certainly detain them for
questioning/debriefing upon their return. The GOE's
determination on whether the subjects will then be released
or referred for prosecution will come only after it weighs
the results of its own investigation and interviews of the
detainees.


3. (C) While the GOE is willing to accept all Egyptian
detainees, our sense is that they do not perceive a core or
urgent national security interest in doing so, and their
flexibility on the terms of return, and assurances they are
prepared to provide, is open to question.


4. (C) The Embassy will continue to press the GOE to provide
specific and substantive responses to our concerns regarding
the terms and modalities of returning these detainees.


Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo

You can also access this site through the
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website.

GRAY