The United States transferred 18 detainees from the military
prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Afghanistan and some other
countries on Sunday, the Pentagon announced.
Seven detainees were handed over to Afghanistan, six to Yemen,
three to Kazakhstan, one to Libya and one to Bangladesh.
Of those handed over to Yemen, one was released, the Pentagon
said in a statement.
After Sunday's transfer, around 395 detainees remained at the US
navel base at Guantanamo. Of those being held there, around 85 had
been determined by the US government to be eligible for transfer or
release through a comprehensive series of review processes, the
statement said.
According to the Pentagon, around 380 detainees had left
Guantanamo since 2002 for other countries, including Albania,
Afghanistan, Britain, Egypt, Iran and Iraq.
Last Thursday, the United States transferred 16 detainees from
Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia.
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The United States opened the detention facility at its naval base
in Guantanamo in January 2002 to hold terror suspects and Taliban
members mainly captured during the US-led war in Afghanistan.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2006)
