(MENAFN- QNA) The U.S. Department of Defence said Sunday that six detainees from Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Uruguay for resettlement, the first time prisoners from the infamous facility have been transferred to South America. The release brings the total number of prisoners held at Guantanamo to 136, down from a one-time high of nearly 800, the NBC News reported.
Officials told NBC News the men departed Guantanamo on Saturday morning and arrived in Uruguay late that night. When detainees are transferred, the U.S. government is given assurances that the men will be treated humanely, but they are not imprisoned in their new home countries. Even more releases are expected before the end of this year, according to an administration official.
The Pentagon on Sunday identified those released as Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Ali Hussain Shaabaan, Omar Mahmoud Faraj, Abdul Bin Mohammed Abis Ourgy, Mohammed Tahanmatan, and Jihad Diyab. Four of the men have Syrian citizenship, while the others are from Tunisia and Palestine, according to Pentagon records.
Their transfer has been in the works since early this year and it was something the President of Uruguay
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