Biden admin transfer 11 Gitmo prisoners to Oman

On Monday, the Biden administration announced the transfer of the 11th Yemeni detaineesincluding two former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden, held at the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Oman, which has agreed to help resettle them, amid moves to reduce the population at the controversial military facility.

All the men were captured after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and have been held for more than two decades without being charged or tried, the New York Times reported.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing US efforts to responsibly reduce the detainee population and ultimately close the Guantanamo Bay facility,” Ministry of Defense it is stated in the press release.

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In this photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, the control tower of the Camp VI detention facility is seen April 17, 2019, at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The White House referred questions from Fox News Digital to DOD.

The 11 arrested were identified as: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.

Ahmed al-Alwi, an alleged Al Qaeda fighter and part of Osama bin Laden’s security in Afghanistan, was one of 11 people freed, New York Post reported.

In 2016, a declassified document said al-Alwi made several statements suggesting he “maintains an extremist mindset.”

Anam al Sharabi, another alleged bodyguard of bin Laden, was also freed. A declassified 2020 file says he was bin Laden’s bodyguard and trained in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks.

He also “may have been linked to an aborted 9/11-style hijacking in Southwest Asia led by al-Qa’ida foreign operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.”

Detainees face Mecca as they prepare for evening prayers March 4, 2002 at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (PETER MUHLY/AFP via Getty Images)

The transfer was made as part of an early-morning undercover operation on Monday, days before Mohammed, Guantanamo’s most notorious prisoner, was to plead guilty to masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in exchange for life in prison instead of faces the death penalty, the Times reported.

That deal with Mohammed and co-conspirators Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi has been roundly criticized by Republicans and the 9/11 families.

The move has been in the works for about three years after an original plan to implement the transfer in October 2023 was met with opposition congress representatives.

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In this April 17, 2019 file photo, a control tower is seen through razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Authorities have not said why the detainees were delivered to Oman, one of the United States’ staunchest allies in the Middle East, or what it gave the host country.

Among the men in the latest transfer was Shaqawi al Hajj, who has been subjected to repeated hunger strikes and hospitalizations at Guantanamo to protest his 21-year prison term.

With the release, the total number of men held at Guantanamo is just 15, the lowest since 2002, when it was converted into a detention facility to house men from around the world arrested in connection with the “War on Terror.”

The transfer leaves six never-indicted men still held at Guantanamo, two convicted and sentenced prisoners and seven others charged in the 2001 attacks, the 2000 USS Cole bombing and the 2002 Bali bombing.