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Saudi government website shows 9 US nationals arrested Saudi government website shows 9 US nationals arrested
(about 1 hour later)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A website belonging to the Saudi Interior Ministry shows nine Americans are currently imprisoned in Saudi jails, with eight detained in the past three months. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nine Americans are currently imprisoned in Saudi jails, with eight detained in the past three months, according to a website belonging to Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry.
The list of detainees is frequently updated and posted on the Interior Ministry’s Nafetah website, which helps relatives to communicate with detainees. The state-linked newspaper al-Watan reported Saturday that the eight recently detained Americans are being investigated for terrorism-related crimes.
The names, ages, genders and other personal details of the U.S. detainees was not released, however the latest update on Monday shows that one U.S. citizen was arrested in March 2007 and convicted, though the details of the case are not provided. The detainee list shows four Americans were arrested in November and December of 2015 and another four Americans were detained on Jan. 25. It says the eight are being investigated, but does not provide details about their alleged crimes or where they are being held in the kingdom.
The Interior Ministry list shows four others were arrested in November and December of 2015 and another four Americans detained on Jan. 25. The names, ages, genders and other personal details of the U.S. detainees were also not listed, however the website shows one U.S. citizen was arrested in March 2007 and convicted and has the right to appeal, though the details of the case are not provided.
State-linked newspapers reported in recent days that the eight recently detained Americans are being investigated for terrorism links. The latest update to the official list, which includes 5,158 detainees who are mostly Saudi nationals, was made on Monday. The list of detainees is posted on the Interior Ministry’s Nafetah website, which helps relatives communicate with detainees.
It shows that five of the Americans were in Saudi Arabia on resident visas, According to the prisons’ website, three others are listed only as U.S. passport holders, suggesting they could be dual-nationals or were visiting the kingdom at the time of their arrest.
U.S. State Department officials say they are looking into reports of the arrests.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.