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The Biden administration announced on Monday the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Oman, which has agreed to assist with their resettlement. This move is part of ongoing efforts to reduce the population at the controversial facility.
The detainees, all captured in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, had been held for more than two decades without being charged or tried. “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,” said the Defense Department in a statement.
The detainees transferred to Oman were identified as: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bin Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj, and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.
According to The New York Times, the transfer was carried out in a secret operation early Monday morning, just days before Khalid Shaikh Mohammed—the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks—was scheduled to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, avoiding a death penalty trial. The plan to transfer the detainees had been under consideration for three years but faced delays due to congressional opposition.
With this latest action, the Guantanamo population has decreased to just 15 detainees—the lowest number since the facility’s establishment in 2002. Among those remaining, six are uncharged, two have been convicted, and seven are awaiting trials related to the 9/11 attacks, the USS Cole bombing, and the 2002 Bali bombings.
Oman, considered one of the most stable U.S. allies in the Middle East, has not commented on the specifics of the arrangement. Most of those released from Guantanamo are Yemeni, with their home country facing instability and conflict dominated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
This transfer follows other recent moves by the Biden administration to close Guantanamo Bay, a goal that remains highly divisive domestically and internationally.
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