The United States will transfer four detainees to Saudi Arabia from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in the next 24 hours, according to reports.
President Barack Obama is making a final push to reduce the number of inmates at the prison, despite pressure from president-elect Donald Trump to halt such releases.
According to Reuters, the release “will be the first in Obama’s final flurry of transfers aimed at sending as many as 19 prisoners to at least four countries, including Italy, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, before Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.”
There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
The goal is to reduce the inmate population at Guantanamo facility to 40 prisoners.
DoD photo by Petty Officer 1st class Shane T. McCoy, U.S. Navy.
It is not immediately known where the prisoners will go once in Saudi Arabia, but the Kingdom has used its Care Rehabilitation Center to attempt to de-radicalize violent extremists. The Center has been criticized by some as a soft approach to eradicating terrorism, but the program has been praised by President Obama.
