US releases German of Afghan origin held near Kabul

Malaysia Sun (IANS) Saturday 31st May, 2008

The US military authorities in Afghanistan have released a German of Afghan origin detained at a military airbase near Kabul five months ago, the German Foreign Office said in Berlin Saturday.

The unnamed 41-year-old man was detained at the beginning of January in a supermarket on the base after US officials apparently found him acting suspiciously.

The man, who lives in the city of Wuppertal in Germany, was visiting relatives at the time.

German security officials suspect that he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time and that he at no stage posed a security risk.

The case sparked comparisons with a German of Turkish origin, Murat Kuraz, who was held in the US military's Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba for more than four years without ever being charged. Kurnaz was just 19 at the time of his arrest in Afghanistan.