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Nine more Guantánamo Bay prisoners released as population dwindles to 80
Source: The Guardian
Nine more Guantánamo Bay prisoners released as population dwindles to 80
• Hunger striker Tariq Ba Odah among nine Yemenis released
• Move announced ahead of Obama visit to key ally Saudi Arabia
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Saturday 16 April 2016 21.37 BST
As Barack Obama prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, the Saudi royal family has taken custody of nine longtime Guantánamo Bay detainees, bringing Obama closer to his goal of shuttering the infamous detention facility.
US officials on Saturday described the nine detainees, all Yemenis, as possessing close family ties to Saudi Arabia. Some, one official said, are “practically Saudis”.
The transfer puts the residual Guantánamo detainee population at 80, the lowest it has been in its 14-year history.
The transfer also clears another statistical milestone for the administration. There are now more detainees approved to leave Guantánamo, 26, than there are so-called “forever detainees”, the term lawyers use to describe those whom the administration has insufficient evidence to charge but claims are too dangerous to release.
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• Hunger striker Tariq Ba Odah among nine Yemenis released
• Move announced ahead of Obama visit to key ally Saudi Arabia
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Saturday 16 April 2016 21.37 BST
As Barack Obama prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, the Saudi royal family has taken custody of nine longtime Guantánamo Bay detainees, bringing Obama closer to his goal of shuttering the infamous detention facility.
US officials on Saturday described the nine detainees, all Yemenis, as possessing close family ties to Saudi Arabia. Some, one official said, are “practically Saudis”.
The transfer puts the residual Guantánamo detainee population at 80, the lowest it has been in its 14-year history.
The transfer also clears another statistical milestone for the administration. There are now more detainees approved to leave Guantánamo, 26, than there are so-called “forever detainees”, the term lawyers use to describe those whom the administration has insufficient evidence to charge but claims are too dangerous to release.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/16/guantanamo-bay-prisoners-released-yemen-saudi-arabia
