3 Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Transferred To Ireland, Yemen

WASHINGTON — With the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison by a January deadline in doubt, the Justice Department Saturday announced the transfer of three detainees to the governments of Yemen and Ireland.

Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, a Yemen native, was returned to his homeland after being imprisoned for seven years. A federal court in May ruled that Ahmed – who was detained in Pakistan in 2002 – could no longer be held at the military detention facility in Cuba and ordered him released.

The Yemen Embassy, in a statement released Saturday, said it welcomed Ahmed's release. It also praised President Barack Obama's decision to shutter Guantanamo Bay.

The two other detainees, whose names were not disclosed for security reasons, have been sent to Ireland. In July, the Irish government agreed to accept the two Uzbek prisoners, one of at least four European nations that have said they would take detainees.

The transfers are part of a larger plan pushed by President Obama since his first days in office to close the detention facility in Cuba by Jan. 22. Administration officials now say that they may not be able to meet that deadline, in part because of the difficulty in finding host countries for those who can be released after their cases are reviewed.

Including the transfers announced Saturday, 17 prisoners have been relocated to other countries, a Justice Department spokesman said. But more than 220 detainees are still being held at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. military prison was created by former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a landing spot for suspected al-Qaida, Taliban and foreign fighters captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

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On the Net:

Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov

Comments

[KIVPossum]

Anyone released from GITMO without having charges brought against them should be given enough funds to restart their life.

[somsoc]

The vast bulk of the detainees at GITMO are not connected, in any way what so ever, to al Quaeda or to any terrorist group. They were fingered by people that were paid by Cheney's thugs and the thugs had no basis but money and greed and the need to fill their pockets, like most republican'ts, so they fingered anyone that was convenient. We destroyed lives of hundreds of totally innocent people and we owe them more than we can repay.

[Lavina]

The truth needs to come out for each prisoner. The stinking thing is, that the US paid people for prisoners. It was a matter of money. Remember the "Joseph and his brothers" story? Joseph had an unusual talent and was saved. What are we going to do to make things right, this time?

[graffitijoe]

116 days until Gitmo closes!

[wildbil546]

You lie!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/guantanamo-might-not-clos_n_300663.html

[KossAtl]

Git her done by end of January because you promised.

[gavrielle]

What would you prefer if they can't find host countries? That we take them out and shoot them? Get real. He's doing the best he can with what he has to work with.

[vegemight]

Who from that funhouse ever got charged?

[janehenry]

I wonder what country they'll send the domestic t.e.r.r.o.r.i.s.t. they arrested this last week if they are convicted. Cuze you know, we don't want those t.e.r.r.o.r.i.s.t. in the United States. We don't have prisons that will hold them, remember?.

[kevenseven]

And of course we have dozens of terr ists in US prisons. It is jut not convenient for the Rethugs to admit it.

[watchful123]

Exactly...