The Pentagon announced Wednesday the transfer of Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab Al Rahabi from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Balkan nation of Montenegro.
(FOX)- Al-Rahabi arrived at the naval base from Yemen in Cuba in 2002 after being accused of serving as the body guard for former Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. He was cleared for release in March 2014 after an intense security review. But the White House doesn’t send Guantanamo prisoners back to Yemen because of the country’s ongoing civil war.
“The United States is grateful to the Government of Montenegro for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The United States coordinated with the Government of Montenegro to ensure this transfer took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
This was the second prisoner this year resettled in Montenegro amid a renewed push by the Obama administration to whittle down the number of men held at Guantanamo even as Congress continues to prevent the closure of the detention center with a prohibition on transferring prisoners to the U.S.
There are still 79 prisoners that remain at Guantanamo, including 29 who have been cleared to be sent home or to other countries for resettlement.
Officials expect to release most of those cleared in the coming weeks, leaving mostly men who have been charged or convicted by military commission for war crimes or who authorities believe are too dangerous to release.