Moroccan judge frees ex-Guantanamo prisoners

[Judi Lynn]

Moroccan judge frees ex-Guantanamo prisoners

Three of five sent home to face trial will be released, lawyers say
Updated: 4:53 p.m. ET

Dec. 20, 2004RABAT, Morocco - A judge granted provisional release to three Moroccans formerly held at Guantanamo Bay on Monday, including a man said to have been Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard, as their trial on terror charges began, lawyers said.

The three men expected to leave jail on Monday night included Abdellah Tabarak, 49. Tabarak gained prominence after U.S. media quoted U.S. State Department memos as saying he had helped the fugitive al-Qaida leader escape in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan in late 2001.

Tabarak’s lawyer, Abdelfettah Zahrach, dismissed the reports as fabrications probably fed to the media by U.S. intelligence services.
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