Five suspected al-Qaeda fighters from Yemen who have spent more than a dozen years at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp have been released for resettlement in Oman and Estonia, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.
U.S. officials determined it was no longer necessary to detain the men, but decided to not send them to Yemen due to instability there as the government battles an al-Qaeda insurgency.
The U.S. has been freeing a number of Guantanamo Bay detainees recently as part of an ongoing effort to close the controversial detention camp in Cuba as directed by President Barack Obama in 2009. There are now 122 men held at Guantanamo, including 54 who have been approved for transfer. Of those cleared to leave, 47 are Yemeni and will likely have to be resettled in other countries, given the security situation in their homeland. Read more...
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