The Joe Biden administration has released 11 prisoners with links to al Qaeda from the notorious Guantanamo Bay, shipping them to Oman.
The Yemeni men were detained at the Cuba prison for more than 20 years without any charges.
They were nabbed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Two of these men, Sahayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi and Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, were bodyguards of Osama bin Laden.
Other detainees were identified as Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.
The US Defense Department stated that it appreciated the willingness of the Oman government to back US efforts to bring down the number of prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay.
The department said the Yemeni prisoners were subjected to thorough interagency reviews carried out by career professionals, following which these men were unanimously found to be eligible for release.
It has been reported that these detainees from Yemen could not be returned to their home country for their own safety, especially due to the ongoing civil war involving Iran-backed Houthis.
