WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Six men held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were flown to Uruguay for resettlement yesterday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by President Barack Obama’s administration to close the facility.
The release of four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian, who arrived in South America aboard a U.S. military transport plane, represented the largest single group to leave the internationally condemned U.S. detention camp since 2009, U.S. officials said.
Obama promised to shut the prison when he took office nearly six years ago, citing the damage it inflicted on America’s image around the world. But he has been unable to do so, partly because of obstacles posed by the U.S. Congress.
The latest transfer of prisoners to Uruguay had been delayed for months. A move initially planned earlier this year was apparently held up by the Defense Department.
Differences over the pace of such transfers, said one U.S. official, added to friction between Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Obama’s inner circle that culminated in Hagel’s resignation last month.
The release of the six was put off again in August when Uruguay became concerned about political risks in the run-up to its October presidential election. But outgoing President Jose Mujica then pressed ahead with the transfer.
Mujica, who has called Guantanamo a “disgrace,” reiterated in an interview aired on Friday that he had rejected a U.S. proposal to ban the detainees from traveling for two years after their release from Guantanamo.
