Foreign Minister Hannah Serwaa Tetteh
has revealed that the United States offered three Guantanamo inmates
for Ghana’s resettlement consideration but the country rejected one.
Ms Tetteh said the two accepted by Ghana were found to be the most compliant in the terror detention camp.
Speaking on Accra-based 3 FM on
Thursday, January 14, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration said a comprehensive assessment was conducted by Ghana’s
National Security on the three before a final decision was taken.
She added that even Ghana’s Ambassador
to the US, Lt. Gen. Henry Smith, who was Minister of Defence in the Atta
Mills’ administration, visited the G-bay several time to assess the
proposed inmates. She was, however, coy on the details gathered on the
suspects.
But the country agreed on Mahmud Umar
Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby because they were
among the low-risk category of inmates, she said.
The arrival of the two terror suspects
of Yemeni descent has been met with public uproar with some civil
society organizations questioning government’s decision.
Most notably the Christian Council of
Ghana and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana have called for a
reversal of the decision.
However, President John Dramani Mahama
in a meeting with journalists at the Flagstaff House last Tuesday
justified his decision to bring in the former G-bay inmates and rejected
rumours that he did so as a result of monetary benefits.
“The US itself would have disclosed if there was any monetary consideration.”
The two - who had been at the camp for
14 years - have already expressed gratitude to the president and the
people of Ghana for accepting to habitate them, disclosing how they had
supported Ghana’s Black Stars against US’ Yankees in the 2010 World Cup.
The ex-terror suspects will be in Ghana for two years, Ms Tetteh said, and can choose any country to settle after then.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|tv3network.com|Ghana
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