[JURIST] A Kuwaiti court Saturday acquitted former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees Omar Rajab Amin and Abdullah Kamel al-Kundari of charges of fighting against US forces in Afghanistan because of insufficient evidence. The two were repatriated [JURIST report] on September 15, 2006, after having been detained at Guantanamo Bay since January 2002. The verdict is not final, however, as the prosecutor can appeal before the courts of appeal and the court of cassation [POGAR backgrounder]. A total of eight Kuwaitis have been repatriated from detention at Guantanamo Bay. One of the eight has been completely acquitted by all three courts, while five others are awaiting the decision of the court of cassation.

On Thursday, the US Department of Defense announced that it has transferred five more detainees [JURIST report; GlobalSecurity.org timeline] to Afghanistan and Tajikistan for detention or release, bringing the total number of detainees released from Guantanamo so far this year to twelve. Some 85 other detainees are currently eligible for transfer or release, but have not yet been handed over to their home governments. The US still holds another 385 detainees under the label of "enemy combatants" [JURIST news archive]. AFP has more.