Yahoo – AFP,
Abdulhadi Habtoor, January 5, 2017
 |
A former Yemeni inmate, released from the US military prison in Guantanamo
Bay, is welcomed by his family upon his arrival in Riyadh on January 5, 2017
(AFP Photo/STRINGER) |
Riyadh
(AFP) - Four Yemenis released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay arrived
Thursday in Saudi Arabia to a tearful reunion with relatives, after the White
House rejected Donald Trump's call for a freeze on transfers.
The
Pentagon confirmed the detainee transfers, and said there are now 55 inmates
still being held in the military detention centre in Cuba.
In the
Saudi capital, an AFP reporter saw the four prisoners after they landed at a
terminal normally reserved for royals at the Riyadh international airport.
Prisoners
and family members wept as they saw each other for the first time in years.
One of the
released inmates, Salim Ahmed bin Kanad, told reporters he felt "born
again" after seeing his relatives.
Another,
Mohammed Bawazir, said he hoped to move on and forget the past.
"I
want to give back to my family the 15 years I lost," he said.
Officials
identified the other former prisoners as Mohammed Rajab Abu Ghanim and Abdullah
Yahya al-Shalabi.
"The
United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for
its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close
the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the Pentagon said.
Outgoing US
President Barack Obama's pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay facility has been
met with legal and political hurdles for years, and on Tuesday, his successor
jumped into the fray.
"There
should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people
and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield," Trump tweeted.
Hours
later, Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest said he would expect "additional
transfers" before the Democrat hands power to Trump on January 20.
Saudi King
Salman has said the four Yemenis who arrived Thursday will live in the kingdom,
where they will take part in a rehabilitation and de-radicalisation programme,
the interior ministry said in a statement.
The bearded
ex-prisoners appeared healthy and were all dressed in two-piece Pakistani-style
tunics.
One prisoner
was welcomed by 21 relatives, including children, but only a handful greeted
the others.
A lone
woman waited for one of the inmates.
Reporters
were kept in the terminal and could not see what type of aircraft had
transported them.
 |
Prisoners
and family members wept as they saw each other
for the first time in years (AFP
Photo/STRINGER)
|
Whittling
down numbers
Obama came
to office eight years ago vowing to close the Guantanamo facility, arguing that
detention without trial did not reflect American values.
But he has
run up against Pentagon foot-dragging and stubborn Republican opposition in
Congress.
With
Guantanamo's closure blocked, Obama's White House has focused on whittling down
the number of inmates.
Before
Thursday's transfer, around 20 of the remaining prisoners had been cleared for
removal. But finding countries to take them has often proven time-consuming.
Only a
handful of those who remain have started moving through military tribunals,
including the alleged plotters of the 9/11 attacks.
Many of the
others are in legal limbo -- not charged but deemed too dangerous to release.
Fifteen of
the 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the attacks against the United States
on September 11, 2001 were Saudi. But Riyadh denies any ties to the plotters
who killed nearly 3,000 people.
In recent
months, Obama has authorised a flurry of transfers of prisoners to other
countries -- prompting outrage from Republicans each time.
In April,
nine Yemeni inmates were transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the
first time the kingdom received any inmates from the facility.
The move followed
years of negotiations with the Saudi government.
Yemen's
civil war meant those inmates could not be sent to their home country.
Obama's
predecessor George W. Bush released or transferred around 500 inmates before
leaving office. Obama had released or transferred more than 180.
