US to allow Swedish officials to visit citizen held at Guantanamo (half-Algerian, born in Sweden)

hindustantimes.com ^ | Stockholm, February 2 2002 | AP

[AM2000]

The United States will allow Swedish officials to visit one of their citizens who is detained at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The Swedish Embassy in Washington will send its second-highest official, Bo Eriksson, and a Swedish security police agent to visit the prisoner, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Aasa Arvidsson said.

The date and other details of the visit would be decided in meetings between Swedish and US officials on Monday, Arvidsson said.

Arvidsson said the purpose of the visit, which was approved by the US State Department yesterday, was "to make completely sure that he is the person we have identified."

The Foreign Ministry has confirmed the man was born in Sweden and is at least 18 years old but has not released any other information, citing secrecy laws.

Tabloid Aftonbladet identified the prisoner as the 22-year-old son of an Algerian man and Finnish woman.

More than 150 detainees from at least two dozen countries who fought US troops in Afghanistan have been brought to the base in Cuba, where they are being interrogated while the US government determines their fate.

Sweden and other European countries have demanded that the prisoners be treated humanely and in accordance with international treaties.

[nocommies]

tell the swedes to go the hell back home and butt the hell out. what have they ever done to combat terrorism? kick em out!

[Maynerd]

Don't forget, these jerks were neutral in WWII. I guess they felt comfortable cohabitating with Nazi Germany.

[liliana]

i recommend Barbara Tuchman's book "the Zimmermann Telegram" which discloses some interesting things about Swedish "neutrality" during WWII.

[rebdov]

What ever has happened to the Swedes? They seem hell bent on pampering terrorists and defending terror attacks by Muslim barbarians against the Jews. What exactly is their problem?

[okie01]

"The Zimmerman Telegram" was concerned with WW I.

The Swedes had little choice in WW II. Like Switzerland, they were surrounded by Nazi-occupied countries or allies (Finland).

Had they put up a howl, they'd have been crushed inside a week. Hard to say they made the wrong choice.

Though there might have been a little too much cooperation in some areas (e.g., iron ore).

[crystalk]

We could send the head to Algeria, and the body to Sweden.

[Maynerd]

Let's just call them Nordic Frenchmen. Viche Sweden had a choice. No doubt the progenitors of "better red than dead."

[okie01]

Sweden was never invaded. Their choice, then, was to remain neutral...or invade Germany.

You would have voted for the latter, I presume.

[Maynerd]

Your present a false choice. Sweden did not have to invade Germany or be neutral. The Swedes preferred to take the amoral agnostic low road. Hence their anguish cries re Guantonoma are an utter joke from a historical context.

BTW The Norwegians were invaded by the Nazis and had a reasonably effective clandestine resistence. Much better than the jokers in France.

[GeronL]

Swedish meathead?

[Rutabega]

Hey, I want to let it be known that though the news people (same as everywhere) are pretty much rooting for the stupid terrorist, the regular people here are not very intrested in what the US is doing to the prisoner. Yes, Swedes are pretty darn liberal (though all of my friends here are very conservative), but there is a lot of anger over the immigrant situation. (LOTS of hostility towards the Muslim community). Unfortunately, they have been turned into much more docile sheeple than in the US, and the PC laws are so outrageous that no one dares to make a stink. So, the news agencies are fussing over sending this guy back to Sweden (where he would inevitably get weekends out of jail for good behavior, and other nonsense) the people on the street DO NOT want this guy back, and do not have a problem with the US detainment policies.

[GeronL]

good to know

[anguish]

Your present a false choice. Sweden did not have to invade Germany or be neutral

You are right. The choice was to remain neutral or be invaded by Germany.

The Swedes preferred to take the amoral agnostic low road

When did the US declare war on Germany - before or after Germany declared war on the US? Freshing up on history, you'll see that most countries that actually ended up fighting the Nazis, did so only after being attacked. Maybe the neutrality of -39, the "non-belligerency" of -40 and declaring war only after being attacked is "amoral", making France and Britain really heroic as exceptions, but it's always easy to make judgements about the past we don't have to live in.

[Maynerd]

It is ludicrous to claim the US was neutral in WWII until Germany declared war on us (as well as Pearl Harbor of course). You conveniently forget the "lend lease" program for the UK. And we all know FDR did everything he possibly could to aid Britain and get our country actively involved in the war prior to Pearl Harbor. The US perceived Nazi Germany as a deadly threat and treated her as such.

[anguish]

It is ludicrous to claim the US was neutral in WWII until Germany declared war on us

Tell me when you seen one claiming that then. FDR claimed it, but we all know he changed it to "non-belligerency" in 1940, right?

You conveniently forget the "lend lease" program for the UK

On the contrary, I'll probably never forget the "Neutrality Act" and what it meant.

The US perceived Nazi Germany as a deadly threat and treated her as such

Ah, so that's why the US waited until Nazi Germany declared war?

[Jamten]

The PC laws here in the bay area are not bad themselves. Almost as bad as in Sweden but I guess it can never go that far here in the grand old USA.

[Bob J]

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