Two Guantanamo Bay prisoners sent to Saudi Arabia as part of closing plans

Two Guantanamo Bay prisoners sent to Saudi Arabia as part of closing plans

Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdullah Hamood are the fifth and sixth prisoners to leave Guantanamo in recent months. The move drops Guantanamo’s population to 160, and half of those detainees are cleared for transfer.

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The population at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay is dwindling under President Obama's renewed push to close it. Officials said Monday that two detainees had been transfered to Saudi Arabia.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has shipped two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Saudi Arabia, officials said Monday.

Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdullah Hamood are the fifth and sixth prisoners to leave Guantanamo in recent months under President Obama’s renewed second-term push to close the facility.

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They were among detainees cleared for transfer in 2010 to countries that the U.S. is confident can imprison them securely and humanely.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Hamood Abdulla Hamood, who was born in Yemen, is one of two Guantanamo Bay prisoners who were shipped to Saudi Arabia, officials said Monday.

The move drops Guantanamo’s population to 160, exactly half of whom are cleared for transfer.

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Both Qahtani and Hamood were allegedly hardcore Al Qaeda fighters.

Qahtani, a Saudi, was captured in Afghanistan during the battle of Tora Bora in which Osama Bin Laden eluded U.S. capture late in 2001.

Hamood, who was born in Yemen and has lived in Saudi Arabia, was also captured in Afghanistan.