3 Guantanamo detainees sent home to Saudi Arabia; 10 transfers in a week

August 29th, 2009 Two Gitmo detainees sent to PortugalWASHINGTON — Justice Department officials said Friday that two Syrians held at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Portugal. United States officials announced the transfer without naming the detainees.

August 29th, 2009 Portugal houses 2 Gitmo detainees as free menLISBON, Portugal — Two Syrians previously held at Guantanamo Bay have arrived in Portugal as free men, the government said Saturday. The Internal Administration Ministry said there are no charges against the unidentified former detainees and that they traveled to Portugal of their own free will.

August 2nd, 2009 Yemeni at Guantanamo: prisoner without a countryWASHINGTON — Legally speaking, Guantanamo Bay detainee Alla Ali bin Ali Ahmed should be a free man. He remains behind barbed wire in Cuba because he has nowhere to go.

June 14th, 2009 Yemen denies Guantanamo inmates heading to SaudiSAN'A, Yemen — Yemen on Sunday denied reports that it has agreed to a U.S. proposal to transfer almost 100 Yemeni inmates at Guantanamo Bay prison to terrorist rehabilitation centers in Saudi Arabia.

June 13th, 2009 Administration speeds overseas detainee relocationWASHINGTON — Despite fierce opposition in Congress, the White House insisted Friday it has not ruled out releasing Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States. But with narrowing options, the administration has begun shipping newly cleared inmates abroad to regain momentum in its effort to close the Cuba-based prison camp.

June 13th, 2009 Hunger striking Guantanamo prisoner releasedSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Guantanamo prisoner who had been on continual hunger strike for almost four years has been released. The Justice Department says Ahmed Zuhair and two other detainees have been sent home to Saudi Arabia, where they will be subject to judicial review before entering a government-run "rehabilitation" program.

June 12th, 2009 Gitmo detainees sent to Iraq, ChadWASHINGTON — U.S. officials say two more Guantanamo Bay detainees have been released, sent to their home countries of Iraq and Chad.

June 12th, 2009 Obama won't rule out releasing detainees in USWASHINGTON — A White House spokesman says the Obama administration hasn't decided whether or not to release Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama has made clear "we're not going to make any decision about transfer or release that threatens the security of this country." Asked if that meant he was ruling out releasing any detainees in the United States, Gibbs said: "I'm not ruling it in or ruling it out." A tentative plan to release some Guantanamo detainees in the United States drew fierce opposition from Republicans and many Democrats in Congress, forcing the Obama administration to shelve the plan to bring some Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs to Virginia.

June 2nd, 2009 Suicides at GuantanamoThe military says five Guantanamo prisoners have died in apparent suicides since January 2002, when the United States began using its base in Cuba to detain suspected terrorists and others with alleged links to al-Qaida and the Taliban: — June 10, 2006: Three detainees, two from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen, commit suicide by hanging themselves with nooses made from clothing and bed sheets. The families of the two Saudis — Yassar Talal al-Zahrani and Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed al-Salami — file a lawsuit against the U.S.

May 9th, 2009 Obama, Yemeni president talk GitmoWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has spoken directly with the president of Yemen about what to do with almost 100 Yemeni nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay, potentially easing the way for a mass transfer of prisoners away from the soon-to-be-closed U.S. facility. Obama and President Ali Abdullah Saleh spoke for 25 minutes on Thursday in the first direct discussion between the two leaders about the future of suspected terrorists and how their countries could work together on counterterrorism policy, a senior administration official said Friday.

May 6th, 2009 US hopeful on Yemeni detainee dealRIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Obama administration says it is inching closer to a deal that would send an estimated 100 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi terrorist rehabilitation centers and speed the closing of the Navy prison. The Yemeni prisoners make up the largest nationality among the 241 detainees left at Guantanamo.

April 8th, 2009 RIYADH - Eleven suspected members Al Qaeda terrorist network were arrested by security officials in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry announced Tuesday. The terrorist cell was held during a special opereation on the kingdom's southern border with Yemen.

April 4th, 2009 BRUSSELS - The US has urged the European Union (EU) to take over some of the detainees who would be freed from its Guantanamo Bay facility, officials said. Information on each of such detainees would be provided, US officials said.

March 29th, 2009 SANA'A - Yemen Saturday extradited to Saudi Arabia five Saudi suspects wanted in their country over links to terrorist activities, security sources said. The sources said the suspects included Abdullah Abdul-Rahman al-Harbi, a leading Al Qaeda suspect who was arrested in southern Yemen March 14.

February 2nd, 2009 RIYADH - The Saudi government has published a list of 85 men worldwide it says adhere to 'deviant' ideologies, common Saudi terminology for Al Qaeda, the official SPA news agency reported. Saudi security forces urged the men to turn themselves in to Saudi embassies abroad and 'return to reason and wisdom', adding that they could be reunited with their families, depending on the charges against them.