Guantanamo Bay inmates to be transferred to other countries, US confirms

The prisoners are expected to have left Guantanmo in a couple of weeks

Thursday 31 March 2016 04:08 EDT

80 prisoners are still at Guantanamo Bay (John Moore/Getty Images)

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The Pentagon plans to move around a dozen inmates from Guantanamo Bay as part of President Barack Obama's final push to close the facility.

The prisoners are expected to have left the military prison within the next few weeks, with the first transfers taking place in the coming days. The military did not disclose the prisoners' destinations.

Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni man who has been on long-term hunger strike, is among those being transferred.

Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Tariq Ba Odah is seen in a US military image taken from a classified Department of Defense Guantanamo 'detainee assessment' prepared in January 2008 and released by WikiLeaks in April 2011 (Reuters)

Most of the 91 prisoners still at Guantanamo have been held without charge or trial for more than a decade, leading to criticism from human rights campaigners.

President Obama has repeatedly said he wants to transfer the men to their home countries, or to maximum security prisons in the US.

USA: 'Close Guantanamo' - Protests hit the White House, Washington D.C.

"I do not have a timeline on when particular detainees will be transferred from Guantanamo," Commander Gary Ross, a Deafence Department spokesman, said in a statement.

"However, the administration is committed to reducing the detainee population and to closing the detention facility responsibly."

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Guantanamo Bay inmates to be transferred to other countries, US confirms

The prisoners are expected to have left Guantanmo in a couple of weeks

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