SARAJEVO, Jan 18 (ONASA) -- The decision on extradition of six Algerians to the United States is in accordance with the responsibility and authorities of the BiH Federation bodies and international obligations, the coordination team for anti-terrorism said in a statement on Friday [18 January]. 
	
	
 "One cannot neglect the fact that BiH, as member of the United Nations, is obliged to strictly respect the UN resolution dated September 28 last year, which obliges UN members to cooperate on the plan of exchange of information and cooperation on prevention of terrorist activities," read a statement from the team. 
	
	
 Bosnian authorities have handed over to US custody six Algerians detained in October on suspicion of involvement in terrorism but ordered released this week by a local court, the US embassy said on Friday. 
	
	
 In Washington, a senior official told Reuters the US military planned to quickly move the six to the American Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where al-Qa'ida and Taliban detainees from the war in Afghanistan are being held. 
	
	
 "The plan is to move them to Guantanamo Bay," the US official said, without specifying when. 
	
	
 Earlier, the US embassy in Sarajevo said in a statement: "The six Algerian nationals who have been detained by BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) authorities since mid-October have been transferred to US custody. 
	
	
 "We have taken custody of these individuals due to our concern about their activity in BiH, which both posed a credible security threat to US personnel and facilities and demonstrated involvement in international terrorism," it said. 
	
	
 Washington insisted it would not have acted without credible evidence, but the transfer exposed it to more criticism from campaigners who have accused it of disregarding human rights in its declared "war on terror." 
	
	
 The six have been accused of having links to the al-Qa'ida network of fugitive Usama Bin Ladin. 
	
	
 A Bosnian government official said legal procedures had been respected in the case, but a senior UN human rights officer in Bosnia said they had been "trampled over." 
	
	
 Not only had a court ordered their release on Thursday but the state's top human rights body had instructed authorities to prevent four being taken out of the country by force. 
	
	
 "It's very disappointing," Madeleine Rees, head of the Bosnia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the operation. "It violates the rule of law." 
	
	
 Washington is already under fire from human rights groups for its treatment of prisoners captured in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo Bay. 
	
	
 The United States has not given the captives the status of prisoners of war, which would grant them certain rights under the 1949 Geneva Convention. 
	
	
 The Supreme Court of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation ruled on Thursday there was no reason to detain the six. All were Algerians, although one also had a Yemeni passport possibly obtained fraudulently, international officials said. 
	
	
 Local police arrested them in October, acting on a US tip after threats closed the US and British embassies for several days. International officials said US officials had not been willing to provide Bosnia's justice system with the intelligence information that prompted their detention. 
	
	
 Five of the six also held Bosnian citizenship but were stripped of it after their arrest. The men had appealed against that decision, however, and Rees said they should not have been deported until that process was complete. 
	
	
 A Bosnian government official insisted the appeal had already been rejected and legal procedures had been followed. 
	
	
 He said the government had not been aware of the ruling by Bosnia's Human Rights Chamber that measures should be taken to stop four of the suspects being taken out of the country. 
	
	
 "The legal procedure in this case has been fully respected so far," said Jusif Halilagic, a deputy minister who represents the government in the chamber. 
	
	
 More than 100 protesters gathered outside Sarajevo's central prison on Thursday night. They tried to block vehicles presumably taking the suspects to hand them over to US forces. 
	
	
 US soldiers form a substantial part of Bosnia's NATO-led peacekeeping force. 
	
	
 The US embassy said the suspects would be treated humanely and in accordance with international law.