Four Prisoners Released Into Iraqi Custody from Guantanamo Bay

Neda Abdul-Hadi has been dealing with her brother's disappearance since 1999. Today she heard through news reports that her brother is one of the four prisoners who has been released into Iraqi custody from Guantanamo Bay.

Her brother was serving in the Iraqi military under Saddam Hussein, when he disappeared. In 2004, the family received a letter saying he was in Guantanamo.

"We received a handwritten letter from him almost every threemonths," said Abdul-Hadi, "He would only tell us about his well-being and send his love to the family, but nothing about his arrest or why he was in Guantanamo."

According to Iraqi officials, the four men were arrested in Afghanistan, sent to Guantanamo and then released to the Iraqis for questioning. The officials wished to remain annonymous because they weren't authorised to talk to the media.

President Barack Obama has ordered the detention center in Cuba to be closed within a year as part of his overhaul of U.S. national security policy. An estimated 245 men are being held; most of them have been detained for years without being charged.