The United States has announced the transfer of five detainees from Guantánamo Bay to the United Arab Emirates, part of a long-delayed plan to close the controversial military prison.
The move means that 107 detainees remain at the prison in Cuba, the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that it was “grateful to the government of the United Arab Emirates for its willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility”.
The five Yemeni men, who were held for more than 13 years, were named as: Ali Ahmad Mohammed al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Mohammed Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani.
They were not charged but were detained as enemy combatants. Their release was delayed because the US will not send Guantánamo prisoners to Yemen because of instability there and must find other countries to accept them. These are the first prisoners accepted by the UAE for resettlement.
The US opened Guantánamo to hold terror suspects following the 11 September 2001 attacks, and photos of shackled men in orange jumpsuits became a defining image of US foreign policy in the early 2000s.
The Guantánamo population has dwindled from more than 700 at its peak. Prisoners no longer deemed a risk have either been repatriated or sent to a host country.
The move means that 107 detainees remain at the prison in Cuba, the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that it was “grateful to the government of the United Arab Emirates for its willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility”.
The five Yemeni men, who were held for more than 13 years, were named as: Ali Ahmad Mohammed al-Razihi, Khalid Abd-al-Jabbar Mohammed Uthman al-Qadasi, Adil Said al-Hajj Ubayd al-Busays, Sulayman Awad Bin Uqayl al-Nahdi and Fahmi Salem Said al-Asani.
They were not charged but were detained as enemy combatants. Their release was delayed because the US will not send Guantánamo prisoners to Yemen because of instability there and must find other countries to accept them. These are the first prisoners accepted by the UAE for resettlement.
The US opened Guantánamo to hold terror suspects following the 11 September 2001 attacks, and photos of shackled men in orange jumpsuits became a defining image of US foreign policy in the early 2000s.
The Guantánamo population has dwindled from more than 700 at its peak. Prisoners no longer deemed a risk have either been repatriated or sent to a host country.
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