Washington, September 27: Three more Guantanamo detainees have been transferred from the US prison camp in Cuba to Ireland and Yemen, the US Department of Justice said on Saturday, in the latest step toward closing the controversial camp.
Two of the detainees were sent to Ireland, though US officials did not release their names or say when they were flown out. Media reports in July suggested the two are Uzbek nationals, but both US and Irish authorities declined to comment.
Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, a Yemeni native, was transferred to his home country following a federal court decision in May authorizing his release.
“The United States has coordinated with the governments of each of these nations to ensure the transfers take place under appropriate security measures and will continue to consult with these governments regarding these detainees,” the Justice Department said Saturday in a statement.
The Yemeni embassy in Washington issued a statement saying it welcomed “with enthusiasm, the release and transfer of its citizen.”
“Yemen will continue its diplomatic dialogue with the United States government to repatriate the remaining Yemeni detainees” at Guantanamo, the statement said.
Since 2002, more than 550 detainees have been transferred out Guantanamo, according to the US Defense Department. However some 200, many of them from Yemen, remain at the camp.
President Barack Obama’s government is struggling to find a way to move detainees in order to meet a self-imposed January 2010 deadline for closing the controversial prison.
Key to closing Guantanamo will be reaching a deal with Yemen that provides Washington assurances that the men being returned.
–Agencies