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Six men held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, arrived in Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, part of a slow-moving push by the Obama administration to close the facility.The six prisoners — four Syrians, a Palestinian and a Tunisian — were never charged with crimes and had been approved for transfer for years. A move initially planned for earlier this year was apparently held up by the Defense Department.
Early Sunday morning, the men finally arrived in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, where five were taken to a military hospital. The sixth, reportedly in a more delicate state, was taken to a different hospital, according to local media.
"We are very grateful to Uruguay for this important humanitarian action," said Clifford Sloan, the State Department envoy on Guantánamo who had negotiated the resettlement deal in January.
With Sunday’s resettlement, 136 men remain at the prison. Sixty-seven have been approved for transfer, most of them from Yemen. More are expected to be released by year’s end.
Uruguayan President José Mujica, an ardent critic of the Guantánamo facility, said the resettled six would have the status of refugees. “The day they want to leave, they can leave,” he said, rebuffing a U.S. condition that they stay in Uruguay for at least two years.
Read more @: 6 Gitmo detainees arrive in Uruguay for resettlement
About damn time. Finally more and more prisoners who have not been charged with anything, and have been cleared to release have finally been released. Good move, and this facility is long overdue to be closed. Its a stain on America.