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WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United States transferred 15 Guantanamo detainees from Cuba to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release over the last seven years, Pentagon announced on Monday.
The transfer of the 15 detainees, among whom 12 were Yemeni nationals and the other three Afghans, reduced the population of the military prison to 61 and came six months after U.S. President Barack Obama made what was widely seen as his last plea for support from the Republican-controlled Congress to close the facility.
In a statement released on Monday, the Pentagon said the United States was "grateful to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility."
In February, Obama unveiled a long-stalled closure plan in his apparent last-ditch effort to seek cooperation from the Congress to close the Guantanamo prison.
According to the plan, some of the detainees still held in Guantanamo would be transferred to other countries, and the Obama administration would review the threat posed by detainees who were not eligible for transfers and identify those eligible for military trials.
However, the closure plan left unanswered a crucial question as to where the administration would put some detainees ineligible for transfers inside the United States.
Republicans in the Congress have pledged to fight against bringing any Guantanamo detainees back to the United States.
