Sana'a - A team of US lawyers representing Yemeni nationals imprisoned at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appealed to the Yemeni government on Sunday to take "assertive and affirmative" steps to secure the release of its citizens. "The Yemen government must take assertive and affirmative steps to apply for the release of its citizens," said Martha Rayner, a lawyer who represents two of more than 100 Yemeni men locked up at Guantanamo.
She told a Sana'a press conference that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his government should exert visible efforts for the release of Yemeni detainees.
"Of course the United States is to blame for the tragedy of Guantanamo, but the Yemeni government must shoulder some of the responsibility," Rayner said at the news conference that was attended by detainees' families and other members of the 14-member team of US lawyers.
"They must shoulder some of the responsibility for the shameful number of men who remained at Guantanamo, and they must take responsibility to change that reality," she added.
Rayner further said Saleh and other Yemeni officials have repeatedly made public remarks that Yemen has been demanding the repatriation of its citizens from Guantanamo.
The New York-based lawyer said Saleh needs "to back his words with actions."
She said that a White House press statement, issued at the conclusion of Saleh's meeting with US President George W Bush in Washington early this month, claimed that Saleh voiced his wish that Yemenis would not be released from Guantanamo.
"Our delegation wants to meet President Saleh for many reasons, but most important among these reasons is the need for the president to debunk President Bush's lie, the lie that Yemen has been behind the dearth of repatriation," she said.
Some 384 men from several countries are still imprisoned at Guantanamo, over one quarter of them are Yemenis. Of the more than 100 Yemeni detainees, only ten have been sent home.
Five of the returning detainees were released by Yemeni authorities while the rest were charged with falsifying identification documents. None were charged with terrorism-related activities.
