The Guyana Mission in Washington has obtained the names of eight Guyanese detained by the US Justice Department in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Of the eight detained, Hassan Azizeldin, whose date of birth is July 9, 1972 and Mohamed Maddy, whose date of birth is given as November 11, 1977 were taken into custody on September 16, 2001.

Rehman Sabir Khan whose date of birth is December 27, 1980 was detained on October 2, but was subsequently released on bond on November 14; Syed Imitiaz Hassan whose date of birth is November 26, 1969 was detained on October 8; and Mohammad Zahid Mahmood, whose date is October 30, 1965 was detained on October 24.

Muhammad Jahangir whose date of birth is December 28, 1970 was detained on November 6, 2001 and Wasim Mohammed Khan whose date of birth is April 6, 1975 was detained on November 18, 2001.

The names were obtained from the US State Department and Guyana's ambassador to the United States Dr Odeen Ishmael told Stabroek News yesterday that the embassy was still to be informed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the detention of the Guyanese nationals and the reason for it. However, Guyana is not alone in this regard as other CARICOM nations whose nationals have been detained as well are still to be officially informed of their identities.

It is still unclear whether the eight nationals were originally detained as nationals of India and it was later discovered that they held Guyanese passports.

Earlier this month, a Times of India report said that the US and Indian law enforcement agencies were collaborating in a passport racket probe and had travelled to Guyana to interview an official at the Indian High Commission. It said too that a US embassy official had been recalled for allegedly issuing visas without proper identification. Guyana serves as a transit point for Chinese and Indian nationals attempting to illegally enter the US.