Saudi Arabia releases 18 ex-Guantanamo inmates

The Saudi Arabian government has released 18 Saudis who were detained on their mid-year return from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday. The men were released after they finished their sentences, Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said, without specifying what they had been convicted of. His comments came in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Al-Turki said the detainees, who returned to the kingdom in May and June, had stood trial in a court that handed down various sentences.