On Monday, the Biden administration announced that 11 Yemeni detainees being held at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will be sent to Oman for resettlement.
According to Fox News, this includes two former bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. All of the men were captured after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. They were held for more than 20 years without being put on trial.
The 11 detainees and their identification numbers are: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman (ISN 27), Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi (ISN 28), Khalid Ahmed Qassim (ISN 242), Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi (ISN 569), Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah (ISN 841), Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani (ISN 893), Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah (ISN 1017), Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi (ISN 1453), Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash (ISN 1456), Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj (ISN 1457), and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah (ISN 1463).
Ahmed al-Alwi, an alleged al Qaeda fighter, was one of bin Laden’s bodyguards (via Fox News):
In 2016, a declassified document said al-Alwi made several statements that suggested that he "maintains an extremist mindset."
Anam al Sharabi, another alleged bin Laden bodyguard, was also released. A 2020 declassified file said he was bin Laden's bodyguard and trained in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks.
He also "may have been associated with an aborted 9/11-style hijacking in Southwest Asia led by al-Qa'ida external operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed."
In a press release, the Department of Defense (DOD) noted that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin notified Congress of his intent to repatriate these 11 Yemeni detainees to the Government of Oman and completed the requirements for transfer.
"The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility," the department said in a statement.
The Department noted that now, 15 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay. Three of them are eligible for transfer, three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board; seven are involved in the military commissions process; and two detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.
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