US transfers five prisoners from Guantanamo

Washington, Nov 21 (IANS/EFE) The US Department of Defense has reported that five prisoners from the US military detention center in Guantanamo, Cuba, have been transferred to Georgia and Slovakia.

Three of them, identified as Salah Mohammed Salih Al-Dhabi, Abdel Ghaib Ahmad Hakim and Abdul Khaled Al-Baydani were sent to Georgia, while two others, Hashim Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti and Husayn Salim Muhammad Al-Mutari Yafai, will be sent to Slovakia.

Despite the transfer of these five prisoners, there are still 143 inmates in the military jail, one hundred less than when Barack Obama became the president in 2008 with a commitment to close the centre.

In a statement, the Pentagon said the decision has been taken after a group of experts from six departments and government agencies reviewed their cases, assessing factors such as security.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, said these transfers must end.

McKeon considered the government's actions dangerous and said that he has sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressing his deep concern.

"If just one US soldier loses their life over these transfers, we will have failed in our duty to the American people," McKeon said in a statement.

--IANS/EFE

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