Eleven Yemeni prisoners were transferred from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay to Oman.
The move left 15 prisoners in prison in Cuba – the lowest number at any time in its history.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defense thanked Oman for supporting US efforts “aimed at responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing” the facility.
None of the men captured after the 9/11 terrorist attacks were charged with any crime during the more than two decades they spent in custody.
The transfer, which reportedly took place in the early hours of Monday morning, comes days before the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is due to plead guilty after agreeing with federal officials to avoid the death penalty.
Monday’s transfer of Yemeni prisoners is the largest single country transfer at one time under President Joe Biden.
Efforts to relocate the group to Oman began several years ago, but the US has said Yemen, which is mired in civil war, is too unstable for repatriation.
Those transferred from Guantanamo include Moath al-Alwi, who was released in 2022 and became famous for making model ships using items found in prison, and Shaqawi al-Hajj, who has gone on repeated hunger strikes to mark protest against detention.
The men were approved for transfer by federal national security review panels, which determined it was “consistent with the national security interests of the United States,” the Defense Department said.
The transfer came less than a week after Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi, one of the original detainees in the prison in January 2002, was returned to Tunisia.
The Ministry of Defense announced that three of the 15 remaining prisoners are also eligible for transfer.
The military prison is part of the US naval base complex in southeastern Cuba. It was established by the Bush administration in 2002, after the September 11 attacks, to hold suspects arrested in counter-terrorism operations. At its peak, it held around 800 detainees.
Controversy centered on the treatment of detainees and how long they were held without charge.
As president, Barack Obama promised to close the prison during his term. He said the prison runs counter to American values, undermining the nation’s standing in the world — a position based on supporting the rule of law.
Obama, who left office in 2017, has also argued that its existence harms partnerships with countries needed to help the US fight terrorism and helps recruit jihadists.
But while in office, Obama faced opposition in Congress to closing prisons — in part because of questions about what would happen to the existing prison population. He transferred or ordered the release of more than 100 detainees to other countries.
The US Congress has not allowed the transfer of prisoners to US states and has blocked their transfer to certain countries, including those in conflict like Yemen.
Efforts to reduce prison populations and prisons have stalled under Donald Trump, who signed an executive order to keep the prison open during his first term. Trump said efforts to release prisoners or close the facility made the US look weak on terrorism.
Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has worked to remove more inmates from the facility in hopes of closing it — though that seems unlikely before Trump takes office later this month.
