Yemeni Guantánamo Bay prisoner released

A prisoner from Yemen at the Guantánamo Bay detention center has been released and sent to the West African country of Cape Verde for resettlement.

The Pentagon said the release of Shawqi Awad Balzuhair, announced on Sunday, lowered the number of prisoners held at the US base in Cuba to 59. Twenty of those remaining have been approved for release, The Guardian reported. 

The Obama administration’s stated aim to close Guantánamo looks sure to fail, as Barack Obama’s presidency comes to an end.

A US government review board determined he was a “low-level militant” and approved his release in 2016.

The US does not send prisoners back to Yemen because of the civil war there, and therefore had to find another country to accept Balzuhair. Cape Verde accepted another prisoner in 2010.

Source: MENA