Oman takes in Guantanamo 10 inmates
January 16, 2017
"To meet a request by the US government to assist in settling the issue of the detainees at Guantanamo, out of consideration of their humanitarian situation, 10 people released from that prison arrived in the Sultanate of Oman for a temporary residency," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The ministry did not name the prisoners, and there was no immediate word from the US Defense Department about the transfer.
Oman previously accepted 10 Guantanamo prisoners from Yemen in January 2016 and another six in June 2015.
US authorities recently said 19 of the remaining 55 prisoners at the base in Cuba had been cleared for release and could be freed in the final days of Obama's presidency.
There were 242 prisoners when Obama took office in 2009. He pledged to close what became a source of international criticism over the mistreatment of detainees and for holding people indefinitely, most without charge.
Congressional opposition to holding any of the men in the US symied attempts to close the base down.
US President-elect Donald Trump said during his campaign that he not only wants to keep Guantanamo open but "load it up with some bad dudes."
jbh/rt (Reuters, AP)