US sends 4 held at Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia in final push
MIAMI — The Pentagon said Thursday that four Guantanamo prisoners have been released and sent to Saudi Arabia, part of a final push by President Barack Obama to reduce the population at the detention centre in the final weeks of his administration.
The four are from Yemen and each had been held at Guantanamo for more than 14 years. They were suspected of being low-level militants with ties to al-Qaida but never charged. They were cleared for release following an extensive security review, the Department of Defence said in announcing the move.
Their release brings the Guantanamo population to 55, including 19 cleared for release. The administration has previously said that it will try to get as many of the cleared prisoners out as possible before Obama leaves office. President-elect Donald Trump this week called for a halt of releases.
They are being sent to Saudi Arabia for resettlement and are expected to take part in a rehabilitation program. The four include Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir, who refused to leave Guantanamo in January 2016 as two other prisoners were being resettled in the Balkans because he wanted to be sent to a country where he had family.