US transfers Guantanamo detainee to Tunisia, leaving 26 at Cuba facility
The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday announced that Guantanamo Bay detainee Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi had been repatriated to Tunisia, a transfer that leaves 26 detainees at the U.S. facility in Cuba.
Yazidi arrived at Guantanamo Bay the day it opened on Jan. 11, 2002, and was never charged. He was handed over to the Tunisian government, the Pentagon said in a press release on Monday.
"On Jan. 31, 2024, Secretary of Defense (Lloyd) Austin notified Congress of his intent to support this repatriation and, in consultation with our partner in Tunisia, we completed the requirements for responsible transfer," the press release said.
The transfer came days after the Pentagon announced the repatriations of three other detainees, as the Biden administration pushes to reduce the number of people held at the notorious facility.
The Pentagon said in a press release earlier this month that Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who are both Malaysians, were sent to their home country to serve the remainder of a 5-year sentence imposed in June. Officials had also announced the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu to Kenya.
Fourteen of the remaining 26 detainees are eligible for transfer, according to the Pentagon. Another three are eligible for periodic review.
"The United States appreciates the support to ongoing U.S. efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility," the Pentagon said in a statement announcing Bajabu's repatriation earlier this month.
The cases of seven other detainees are ongoing under military commissions, the tribunal process under which detainees are tried. Two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by those commissions.
ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
