A Yemeni prisoner at Guantanamo Bay was released and sent to Italy after more than 14 years in custody, the Pentagon said Sunday.
The release of Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman reduced the number of men held at the U.S. base in Cuba to 78. He was among about two dozen low-level Guantanamo prisoners expected to be released in the coming weeks.
“The United States is grateful to the Government of Italy for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
Military records show Suleiman, who is about 40, was suspected of fighting with al-Qaida against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He was never charged, and officials cleared him for release in 2010. But the U.S. does not send Yemeni prisoners to their homeland because of instability there and had to find another country to accept him for resettlement.
The U.S. transferred two Guantanamo detainees to Italy in November 2009.
President Barack Obama has been seeking to close the detention center amid opposition from Congress, which has prohibited transferring detainees to the U.S. for any reason. The administration has been working with other countries to resettle detainees such as Suleiman who have been cleared for transfer after a comprehensive security review.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
If you’re so convinced that this man is safe, why not invite him to live in the White House with you, Mr. Obama. Let’s go one step farther, and allow him to sleep in the bedroom next to yours!! And since there have been periodic attacks on the White House, we’ll allow him a firearm for self defense?!! How stupid can we get? Another alternative would be to have him live in Chicago’s Hyde-Park neighborhood?
Nailed it,he want to destroy this country,impeach this joke
Obama is a liar and traitor, we have useless Congress that allow this scumbag to run down our country and fill it with terrorists like himself. Obama is a racist who hates America and Americans. I bet those he let out of Gitmo are now training with terrorist groups to murder Americans. Both parties are guilty of treason, for letting Obama destroy our country. I am ashamed of our corrupt government.
I agree with you my friend and I am ashamed of “We the people for allowing this to go on” Kick all the lily livered asses out of congress, maybe just maybe we can get some that can read and understand above 2nd grade level,. Trump 2016 At least he has a pair of balls.
Well said!!!!!
You are right. Once they are released they can go to any country. Another guy Obama released, they don’t know where he is. Obama stated he would side with Muslims. He doesn’t want a wall between us and Mexico, but he wants a wall around WH. Our Border Patrol has the use rubber bullets. The Drug Cartels got the Fast and Furious Guns.
Obama has no right to close our base and the prison. Wonder what he traded to Castro.
Trump for president. Make list of people not backing Trump. I won’t vote or donate to them. GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND TRUMPS ELECTION. SAFE IN OHIO.
American – O’Bama is crazy! He has done more damage to this country by his actions during the past years. Who needs enemies when you have him?
Is it me or has anyone else noticed that
Obama talks and looks like he’s been
Smoking pot. His speeches are bad .. A
Lot of ahs and pauses and his eyes
Look like a pot smokers eyes. Maybe
That’s where all the bad decisions are
Coming from…..pot.
And I’ll believe it IF and WHEN it happens. The clintons have been getting away with criminal actions for decades, so why is this going to be any different?
These guy’s are terrorists and should not be freed.Just because odummer is a so called president he should not be able to release these prisoners,In fact he should be one of them.But with the cowards we have in DC that will never happen
well said, so true, Semper !! and all the rest of you, i couldn’t say it any better !! carry on !
I’d imagine this freed prisoners last words to his guards were something along the lines of “You’ll be hearing from me again soon”….Its nice to see Obumhole takes care of his own, Just a shame America is NOT part of his own but he’s slowly getting us there.
Obama is America’s Trojan horse, He is a Shiite Muslim, and controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, he has them for advisors to the middle East, and look what has taken place over there by Obama, he has fired Generals who oppose killing Americans if the order was given in Marshall law, and those outspoken on his fight over ISIS, he was a part of the black panthers under rev Write of the Trinity church, he also belonged to the down under club in that church in which many members talked about, black lives matter came out of the black panther movement, in which Obama has ties to the new black panthers, He bombed ISIS for 8 months and killed more pickup trucks than all the wars combined, look this up on your computer, Barack Obama and the communist party. Obama and the democratic socialist America. Obama and the new party/ Progressive Chicago.Socialism Marxism, Communism and Obama, the new blck panthers threaten to carry guns to the republican convention, Obama laughed it off, if you think Obama is bad, you have seen nothing yet with Hillary and bill and Obama..