The transfer, which reportedly took place early Monday, comes days before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is scheduled to plead guilty after agreeing to a deal with federal officials to avoid the death penalty. . .
Monday’s Yemeni prisoner transfer was the largest single-country transfer under President Joe Biden.
Efforts to resettle the group in Oman began years ago, but the US said Yemen, which is in civil war, was too unstable for repatriation.
Among those transferred from Guantanamo are Moat al-Alwi, who was granted permission to be released in 2022 and became famous for building model boats from objects found in prison, and Shakawi al-Haj, who has repeatedly gone on hunger strike to protest his detention.
The men were cleared for transfer by federal national security review teams, which determined it was “consistent with the national security interests of the United States,” the Defense Department said.
The transfer came less than a week after Rida bin Saleh al-Yazidi, one of those originally detained in the prison in January 2002, was repatriated to Tunisia.
The Defense Ministry said three of the 15 remaining detainees are also eligible for extradition.
The military prison is part of a US naval base complex in southeastern Cuba. It was established by the Bush administration in 2002 after the 9/11 attacks to hold suspects captured during counterterrorism operations. At its peak, it held about 800 detainees.
Controversy centered around the treatment of detainees and how long they were held without charge.
As president, Barack Obama promised to close the prison during his term. He said the prison goes against US values, undermining the nation’s standing in the world — a standing founded on upholding the rule of law.
Obama, who left office in 2017, has also argued that its existence harms partnerships with countries needed to help the US fight terrorism and that it helps recruit jihadists.
But during his tenure, Obama faced opposition in Congress to closing the prison — in part because of questions about what would happen to the prison’s existing population. He transferred or ordered the release of more than 100 detainees to other countries.
The US Congress has not authorized the transfer of detainees to US states and has blocked their transfer to some countries, including countries with long-standing conflicts such as Yemen.
Efforts to reduce the prison’s population and close it stalled under Donald Trump, who signed an executive order to keep it open during his first term. Trump said efforts to release detainees or close the facility make the US weak in the fight against terrorism.
Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has worked to remove more inmates from the facility in hopes of closing it — though that seems unlikely before Trump takes office later this month.
