U.S. frees 9 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Saudi Arabia
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Authorities say the U.S. has released nine prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and sent them to Saudi Arabia for resettlement. All nine are Yemeni but have family ties to Saudi Arabia. None of the men had been charged and all but one had been cleared for release from the U.S. base in Cuba since at least 2010. One was approved for release by a review board last year.
MIAMI >> The U.S. has released nine more prisoners from its base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent them to Saudi Arabia for resettlement, officials said Saturday.
The move announced in a Pentagon statement is part of an effort by President Barack Obama’s administration to release detainees considered low-risk while seeking to transfer the remainder to the U.S.
“The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said.
With this latest release, there are now 80 prisoners at Guantanamo, including 26 cleared men expected to be sent home or to another country by the end of the summer.
Many in Congress, however, are staunchly opposed to closing Guantanamo or moving any prisoners to the U.S. and some have called for new restrictions on future releases and transfers.
All of the men whose release was announced Saturday are Yemeni but could not be sent back to their homeland because U.S. officials fear that the instability there would enable them to resume the militant activities that landed them at Guantanamo in the first place. They are expected to take part in a Saudi rehabilitation program for an undisclosed length of time.
The nine Yemenis include Tariq Ba Odah, a frequent hunger striker whose weight dropped to a dangerously low 74 pounds (34 kilograms) at one point as the military fed him with liquid nutrients to prevent him from starving to death. His lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights had urged the U.S. to free him earlier due to his health.
Eight of the prisoners, including Ba Odah, had been cleared for released from Guantanamo since at least January 2009, when an Obama administration task force evaluated all of the prisoners held at that time. The ninth, Mashur Abdullah Muqbil Ahmed Al-Sabri, was cleared by a review board last year.
The other prisoners in this release were identified as: Ahmed Umar Abdullah Al-Hikimi; Abdul Rahman Mohammed Saleh Nasir; Ali Yahya Mahdi Al-Raimi; Muhammed Abdullah Muhammed Al-Hamiri; Ahmed Yaslam Said Kuman; Abd al Rahman Al-Qyati; and Mansour Muhammed Ali Al-Qatta.
45 responses to “U.S. frees 9 Guantanamo prisoners, sends them to Saudi Arabia”
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Prisoners released from Guantanamo go back to join the terrorist. Innocent lives lost because of that. Every death as the result of these released prisoners should be their blood on Obozos hands.
It’s being reported the Saudi’s had a hand in 9-11, they don’t want to get punished for it. Then we have Obama releasing these 9 Fanatics to the Saudi’s, does this make any sense at all?
Immediate EXECUTION should be their only release, but since the guy from Kenya is a Muslim, these killers go free to kill the Infidels!!!!!!
The US play by sane men’s rules, and like Trump says these Muslims fight with no rules any thing goes type of attitudes. CRAZY, if these Fanatics caught a US soldier on the battle field their heads be rolling
The second highest percentage of detainees held at Gitmo are from Saudi Arabia (17 percent), so that’s no surprise as to the number being released. What’s surprising and doesn’t make any sense is that they’re being released without first being put on trial to see whether or not they had a role in committing terrorism.
“Like Trump says”! Here’s the verbatim “word salad” that he spewed Thursday night when asked “What is your favorite Bible verse?”:
“Well, I think many. I mean, when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. And some people, look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that. That’s not a particularly nice thing. But you know, if you look at what’s happening to our country, I mean, when you see what’s going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us … we have to be firm and have to be very strong. And we can learn a lot from the Bible, that I can tell you.”
My kids could recite favorite Bible verses at age 5 when we “had ohana” every morning. Not only is Drumpf a heathen, he can’t even put together a coherent response to a very simple question. God forbid he ever darkens the doorway of the Oval Office!
A very conservative paper’s analysis:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/donald-trump-favorite-bible-verse-is-one-jesus-specifically-repudiated/
So if Congress passes then 9/11 Bill, which Saudis disapprove, Obama just gave them 9 Sunni soldiers to return to fight, question is where. Fight does not necessarily mean physically fighting but coordinating, introducing, making deals.
Here are a couple of facts, although I know that facts aren’t welcome in the conservative echo chamber. Bush released more than 500 prisoners from Guantanamo and there was no conservative outrage. Efforts to release the 9 prisoners who have just been released by Obama began under Bush. The continued existence of Guantanamo is perpetuating one of the greatest recruiting tools for ISIS and Al Qaida. There are hundreds of terrorists in prisons in the U.S. If there were a reason to hold these men any longer, they should be transferred to U.S. prisons.
Waiting til they died is too long…..send them to Guam or Iceland and wear ankle trackers forever?
presently ‘if we catch “a bad one” where are they kept??????? the bad terrorist regular jails ??
They kill them. That’s the only way.
Do you see any prison camps in Syria?
That’s actually kind of ironic sending them back to be the Saudi’s problem especially after the leak of the redacted 28 pages of the 9/11 report that implicated Saudi citizens, royal family members, and government in the attack.
Obama is making a mistake in closing Gitmo….we need a place to hold dangerous terrorists who will rejoin the battle against the U.S. and its allies if released from detainment……
All of the men whose release was announced Saturday are Yemeni but could not be sent back to their homeland because U.S. officials fear that the instability there would enable them to resume the militant activities that landed them at Guantanamo in the first place. Excuse me, but Saudi Arabia and Yemen share a common border which can be crossed as easily as it is to cross into the US from Mexico and I believe most of the nine released will do so.
O is one sick #blurp.
Obama doesn’t care about the Constitution and rule of law or about the safety and security of the U.S.
Sad but true. A quick example is his executive orders. So much for democracy where the Pres works WITH Congress to get things done. And yup, he’s clueless on foreign matters. Remember, he called ISIS a JV team … not to worry. Hmmm .. ..
President Obama has signed fewer executive orders than almost any other President. And since you don’t seem to understand the Constitution, the President has essentially unlimited power over the military and military matters.
you’re head must surely be stuck in the sand..
Scooters, I was thinking about it being stuck somewhere else.
But you must keep in mind that Congress is in complete opposition to moving detainees of Gitmo to facilities in the U.S. for trial. Shouldn’t everyone, including prisoners of war, be afforded a fair trial to determine whether or not they are guilty? failure to hold Article 5 tribunals required by the Geneva Conventions are in violation of international law. This is why Amnesty International has dubbed Guantanamo Bay the “Gulag of our times.”
they are not prisoners of war. they belong to no sovereign nation. they were captured on the battlefield as terrorists. we should have executed all these guys after we interrogated them. problem solved.
@tsboy you are correct..nailed it. tiger is misinformed about the legal definition of a “prisoner of war”.
A legacy/promise is more important than sage advise from expert/specialist to a individual suffering from narcissism. A recent poll indicate that the majority of Americans consider national security over the economy of the nation.
A POTUS #1 priority is KEEPING AMERICANS SAFE. O is a total FAILURE.
I guess Bush didn’t care about the Constitution when he released more than 500 prisoners from Guantanamo.
Nine more terrorist will invoke evil upon us:
Mashur Abdullah Muqbil Ahmed Al-Sabri, Ahmed Umar Abdullah Al-Hikimi; Abdul Rahman Mohammed Saleh Nasir; Ali Yahya Mahdi Al-Raimi; Muhammed Abdullah Muhammed Al-Hamiri; Ahmed Yaslam Said Kuman; Abd al Rahman Al-Qyati; and Mansour Muhammed Ali Al-Qatta.
al-Qaeda is happy to hear this.
No one commenting here understands that none of the people being released could be put on trial because we have no evidence against them that could lead to a conviction. Lots of terror suspects are tried in U.S. courts and are securely in prisons inside the continental U.S. It might help to learn something – anything – before commenting. If any of those people could have been put on trial and convicted of anything, that would have happened years ago. The United States cannot imprison people forever without trial.
Not true, the US can keep them imprisoned as long as Obama does not bring them onto US soil. Enemy combatants are not entitled to constitutional protections, if they were prisoners of any other country under the same circumstances, they would be dead already.
Not under international law. Prisoners of war are entitled to protections under Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention as well as under Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Treating detainees of Gitmo inhumanely would be a clear violation of habeas corpus.
The constitution protects everyone’s basic rights whether or not you are a citizen.
In 1998 Osama Bin Laden declare war on the U.S., then they attacked our Embassies in Africa and the USS Cole in Yemen. I would say that this is war and the war is not over. This is not a criminal case and these guys are suspects in a crime. They are soldiers fighting for their cause, their god, the establishment of their country. That’s what al bagdaddi is trying to do in Iraq and Syria. Note that ISIS has flag, uniforms, army, and territory.
By releasing these guys, they will return to this fight…. Saudis, Yemenites, AQAP, ISIS are as all Sunni.
Agree
These guys are probably Sunni. Saudis trying to prop up Yemeni Government, which is Sunni. AQAP is Sunni. Houthies, probably wrong spelling.. are Shia propped up by Iran. I can see the Saudis using them to cut a deal with AQAP….”your enemy is my enemy”.
They need a graphics artist down there to do them a decent sign. Maybe they’ll catch one from Daesh.
True to his word, Old Hussein is sending his “Hommes” back to where they can rejoin the fight…Thanks Barry for putting American lives in danger..POS
And why are we releasing detainees who could very well be terrorists? Because Congress is in opposition to putting all of these detainees on trial. For example, hundreds of detainees have already been released being subject to a Combat Status Review Tribunal. So we’ll end up releasing those wrongfully detained as well as those who should be locked up for the rest of their lives.
Correction: For example, hundreds of detainees have already been released [without] being subject to a Combat Status Review Tribunal.
releasing these guys is a great idea, if we were ISIS. unfortunately, we are fighting ISIS. Obama sucks the big one.
Well, in that case you have nothing to fear from him.
great news… Hope that the symbol of American torture closes soon.
Wiliki, you need to be water boarded. Maybe you will finally disclose where your brain is.
that’s OK, same guy that wants rail, him and UB on same page. He is consistent which a credit to his character.