The Biden administration quietly shipped 11 prisoners linked to al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden to Oman from Guantanamo Bay.
The Yemeni men had been held at the infamous facility at the southeastern end of Cuba for more than two decades without charge.
Two of the men were once bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden, and all of the men were captured in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
‘The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,’ the Defense Department said in a statement.
‘Although different processes, each of the Yemeni detainees underwent a thorough, interagency review by career professionals who unanimously determined all detainees as transfer eligible consistent with the national security interests of the United States.’
The move was the latest salvo – and potentially the last – in a concerted effort from the Biden administration to clear Guantanamo Bay of such prisoners.
The transfer took place early on Monday morning as part of a covert operation to get the men to Oman, where they will be resettled, safely and without fuss.
It is unclear what the United States has agreed to, or provided Oman, in exchange for taking the prisoners.
The men could not be returned to their home country of Yemen, which is gripped by civil war, due to their own safety.
Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi and Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi were both alleged to be bin Laden’s bodyguards, and al-Alwi is also an accused al Qaeda fighter.
According to a 2020 intelligence file, al Sharabi ‘may have been associated with an aborted 9/11-style hijacking plot in Southwest Asia.’
A separate intelligence file on al-Alwi from 2016 revealed he ‘has made several statements since early 2016 that suggest he maintains an extremist mindset.’
The other men who have been released have been 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.
Moath al-Alwi, al Sharabi and al-Rammah were all authorized to be released back in 2022.
The sultanate of Oman did not acknowledge taking in the prisoners early Tuesday. However, the key Western ally has taken in over two dozen prisoners in the past since the founding of the prison.
The transfer announced Monday leaves six never-charged men at Guantanamo, two convicted and sentenced inmates, and seven others charged with the 2001 attacks, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and 2002 bombings in Bali.
Of the remaining 15 men in Guantanamo Bay, three are eligible for transfer and another trio to have their detention status reviewed.
Former president George W. Bush set up the detention facility in 2002 as part of his administration’s fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
At its peak, the facility held up to 800 detainees.
Detainees were designated as enemy combatants and denied access to the U.S. justice system.
The Biden administration has repeatedly vowed to shutter Guantanamo for good; a promise Barack Obama failed to deliver on in his two terms in the White House.
The cost of Guantanamo has bloated over the past two decades, so that by the time former President Trump took office the U.S. was spending $13 million per year, per prisoner, according to Lee Wolosky, Obama’s Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure.
That’s compared to $78,000 spent per inmate at a ‘super-max’ prison in Florence, Colo., home to some of the highest-risk prisoners in the U.S.
Daily Mail
