RUSSIANS WHO ARE KEPT AT GUANTANAMO BASE MAY BE EXTRADITED TO RUSSIA

WASHINGTON, January 16. /RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT/ -- Senior investigator of cases of particular importance of the Russian Federation's Prosecutor-General's Office Igor Tkachev announced that the US authorities are considering the question of extraditing eight Russian citizens, who are kept in custody at the US military base at Guantanamo together with other individuals detained in Afghanistan in the course of the military operation against the Taliban.

"They must be extradited, and the American side is ready to bring them to us", Tkachev said.

At Fort Belvoir military base in Virginia state on Thursday Tkachev had a meeting with the top officials of the US working group on criminal investigation, set up by the US Defense Department to conduct the cases of the individuals kept at the American base in Cuba. The US side handed more than 100 pages of investigation materials over to Russia.

The senior investigator characterized as "very serious" the investigative work to collect proofs, done by the US side, and said that an accord on a possibility to further provide Russia with materials within this investigation had been attained during his visit. "The American side is also interested in further meetings", the investigator noted.

A criminal case was filed in Russia with regard to the eight Russian citizens kept at Guantanamo. They are charged with "the participation in a criminal community, mercenariness, and illegal border-crossing", Tkachev said. He stressed that after the extradition of the accused the question of their guilt "will be decided by a Russian court".