Washington (AFP) – A Guantanamo Bay detainee from Yemen was transferred to the Cape Verde islands off Africa’s west coast, the Pentagon said Sunday, bringing the number of inmates remaining at the camp to 59.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, about 780 inmates have been housed in the US military-run facility in Cuba, which President Barack Obama had vowed to close during his administration.
According to the Pentagon, detaining inmate Shawqi Awad Balzuhair was no longer “necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.”
The United States and Cape Verde governments ensured that the transfer was “consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
Obama’s administration is in a race against the clock to find host countries willing to take in the detainees before the end of his mandate on January 20.
The president failed to honor his pledge to permanently close the prison camp, but is determined to leave as few prisoners as possible before stepping down from office.
According to a New York Times database, Balzuhair was captured on September 11, 2002 in Karachi by Pakistani forces participating in an assault on Al-Qaeda militants. He was accused of preparing attacks against US forces in Karachi.
Balzuhair was recommended for transfer in July.
“The United States is grateful to the government of Cabo Verde for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said.
Guantanamo is a US naval base carved out land on the tip of southeastern Cuba that has been under US control for more than a century. The administration of George W. Bush opened a prison there to hold terror suspects.
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