Four Yemeni nationals from Guantanamo arrive in Riyadh
Last April, Saudi Arabia accepted nine Yemenis under a long-negotiated deal between Washington and Riyadh
Four Yemenis from Guantanamo Bay military prison arrived in Riyadh on Thursday evening , in President Barack Obama’s final push to shrink the inmate population there despite pressure from the president-elect to halt such releases.
Last April, Saudi Arabia - one of the top US allies in the region - accepted nine Yemenis under a long-negotiated deal between Washington and Riyadh.
It will be the first in Obama’s final flurry of transfers aimed at sending as many as 19 prisoners to at least four countries, including Italy, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, before Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.
If the final transfers go according to plan, only about 40 prisoners will remain at Guantanamo, despite Obama’s pledge to close the controversial facility at the US naval base in Cuba.
(With Reuters)
Also Read
-
Chilling story of Saudi held at Guantanamo Bay
Ahmad Al-Darbi's family hopes his ordeal will come to an end soon so he can return to the Kingdom Features -
Nine Yemeni Guantanamo prisoners arrive in Saudi Arabia
None of the men had been charged and all but one had been cleared for release from the US base in Cuba since at least 2010 Middle East -
Saudi detainee sent home from Guantanamo
Mohammed al-Zahrani is the latest of seven prisoners freed from the controversial jail in the past three weeks Middle East -
U.S. transfers two Guantanamo detainees to Saudi Arabia
After a “comprehensive review” of their cases, Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood were designated for transfer World News
