10 Yemeni ex-Guantanamo inmates arrive in Oman

Ten Yemeni former inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay arrived in Oman on Thursday for a "temporary stay" as Washington moves to close the notorious prison, Muscat's foreign ministry said.

Oman has received the men "in response to a request by the US administration for help to resolve the issue of detainees at Guantanamo Bay," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency ONA.

Another former Guantanamo Bay inmate was repatriated this week to Saudi Arabia, where he will join the kingdom's programme to rehabilitate militants.

In an interview published Monday, US President Barack Obama vowed to push ahead with plans to close the prison for terror suspects, despite evidence that a substantial number of former detainees have returned to the battlefield.

The Republican-controlled Congress has thwarted Obama's repeated efforts to close Guantanamo.

Obama came to office in 2009 vowing to shutter the facility, which opened under his predecessor George W. Bush to hold terror suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks and became known for harsh interrogation techniques that some have said were tantamount to torture.
Source: AFP