The United States has transferred 15 inmates from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to the United Arab Emirates, leaving 61 detainees at the Cuban facility, the Pentagon said Monday.
Under reviews conducted by a task-force made up of six US security agencies, six of the 15 were deemed to no longer present a security risk: Abd al-Muhsin Abd al-Rab Salih al-Busi, Abd al-Rahman Sulayman, Mohammed Nasir Yahi Khussrof Kazaz, Abdul Muhammad Ahmad Nassar al-Muhajari, Muhammad Ahmad Said al-Adahi and Abdel Qadir al-Mudafari.
Nine others were recommended for transfer, based on a decision that their detention was no longer necessary to limit whatever risks they continue to present: Mahmud Abd Al Aziz al-Mujahid, Saeed Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah Sarem Jarabh, Mohammed Kamin, Zahar Omar Hamis bin Hamdoun, Hamid al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmed, Ayub Murshid Ali Salih, Obaidullah and Bashir Nasir Ali al-Marwalah.
Their nationalities were not listed.
The Pentagon said that the United States was grateful to the United Arab Emirates for its "humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility."
Congress was notified of the transfers as required under US law, the Pentagon said.
The release of the 15 to the UAE follows last month's transfer of a Tajik and a Yemeni to Serbian custody, and another prisoner to Italy.
