The Biden administration announced the transfer of 11 on Monday Yemeni prisoners are being held at a US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Oman, which has agreed to help resettle them, amid moves to reduce the population at the controversial military facility.
All of the men were captured in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and held for more than two decades without being charged or tried, the New York Times reported.
“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts aimed at responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the spokesperson said. Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
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This photo reviewed by U.S. military officials shows the control tower of the Camp VI detention facility on April 17, 2019, at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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The 11 detainees were identified as: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah , Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.
Detainees prepare for evening prayers on March 4, 2002, at Camp X-Ray in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by facing Mecca. (PETER MUHLY/AFP via Getty Images)
The transfer took place as part of a covert operation in the early morning, days before Guantanamo’s most notorious detainee, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, would plead guilty to plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks, which in return killed nearly 3,000 people came. for a life sentence instead of facing a death penalty trial, the Times reported.
The move had been in the works for about three years, after an initial plan to carry out the transfer in October 2023 was opposed by congressional lawmakers.
This April 17, 2019 image shows the control tower through the barbed wire at the Camp VI detention center at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Authorities did not say why the prisoners were extradited to Oman, one of the United States’ most stable allies in the Middle East, or what it gave to the host country.
The men in the latest transfer included Shaqawi al Hajj, who had endured repeated hunger strikes and hospitalizations at Guantánamo in protest against his 21 years in prison.
The release brings the total number of men held at Guantanamo to just 15, the fewest since 2002, the year it was converted into a detention center for men from around the world arrested in connection with the ‘War on Terror ‘.
The transfer leaves six never-indicted men in Guantanamo, two convicted prisoners and seven others accused of the 2001 bombings, the 2000 USS Cole bombing and the 2002 Bali bombings.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad is being held in Guantanamo Bay. (Getty Images)
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So are most of them at Guantanamo from Yemena country ravaged by war and now dominated by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
