U.S. Ready to Release Six Yemenis

[ProSense]

U.S. Ready to Release Six Yemenis

By JAY SOLOMON and EVAN PEREZ

The Obama administration is set to release six Yemenis from Guantanamo Bay in a potentially important step in the White House's bid to close the detention facility next year, according to U.S. officials.

Yemen nationals make up nearly half the 210 detainees still being held at the U.S. military facility in Cuba. The Pentagon and Justice Department have cleared 34 of the 97 Yemenis of any ties to al Qaeda or other militant Islamist organizations.

However, U.S. officials have hesitated to repatriate Yemenis cleared for release because of growing insurgencies in the Middle Eastern country and a significant presence of al Qaeda fighters in Yemen. In recent days, Yemeni counterterrorism squads carried out operations against alleged al Qaeda fighters in at least four cities.

In the past, al Qaeda members captured in Yemen have either escaped from detention facilities or been released by the Yemeni government. A number of former Guantanamo detainees have also taken up arms with al Qaeda following their release, according to senior U.S. officials.

"The security situation in Yemen isn't what we'd like to be able to send these men back," a U.S. official said Friday.

Nonetheless, the U.S. has decided to proceed with a small number of repatriations and will monitor the progress to see if further releases are possible, officials said.

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Wow, just in time for the U.S. bombed Yemen disinformation campaign.

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