Algeria acquits two former Guantanamo Bay detainees

Two Algerian men held at Guantanamo Bay for seven years on terror charges have been acquitted at a trial on being returned home, state media report.

Faghoul Abdelli and Mohamed Terari were arrested in Afghanistan by Pakistani police after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, reports said.

They both denied having any connection to militant groups and said they were "brutally tortured" in US custody.

Algeria's state prosecutor had called for a 20-year jail term for the men.

US President Barack Obama made closing the detention centre down a key part of his election campaign and set a deadline of January 2010.

But last week he said that date would be missed.
He did not set a specific new deadline for closing the camp, but said it would probably be later in 2010

Officials are trying to determine what to do with some 215 detainees still held at the Cuba prison.

Mr Obama's administration says it will try some detainees in US courts and repatriate or resettle others not perceived as a threat.