4 Yemenis freed from Gitmo arrive in Saudi

RIYADH: Four Yemenis released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay arrived Thursday in Saudi Arabia to a tearful reunion with relatives, after the White House rejected Donald Trump’s call for a freeze on transfers. The Pentagon confirmed the detainee transfers, and said there are now 55 inmates still being held in the military detention centre in Cuba. In the Saudi capital, an AFP reporter saw the four prisoners after they landed at a terminal normally reserved for royals at the Riyadh international airport. Prisoners and family members wept as they saw each other for the first time in years. One of the released inmates, Salim Ahmed bin Kanad, told reporters he felt “born again” after seeing his relatives.

Another, Mohammed Bawazir, said he hoped to move on and forget the past. “I want to give back to my family the 15 years I lost,” he said. Officials identified the other former prisoners as Mohammed Rajab Abu Ghanim and Abdullah Yahya Al-Shalabi. “The United States is grateful to the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said. Outgoing US President Barack Obama’s pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay facility has been met with legal and political hurdles for years, and on Tuesday, his successor jumped into the fray. “There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield,” Trump tweeted.