The United States announced the transfer of six detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Oman as part of an effort to eventually close the detention center in Cuba.
All six detainees are Yemeni, and include alleged members of the al Qaeda terror group.
With the latest transfer, 116 detainees remain at the facility as the clock ticks toward the end of President Barack Obama’s term.
Obama signed an executive order on his third day in office in January 2009 to begin the process of shutting down Guantanamo Bay.
“The United States is grateful to the government of Oman for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
The United States tries to find countries that will provide security against possible trouble from former prisoners and human rights assurances regarding the former inmates.
Six federal departments and agencies that comprise the task force reviewing the Guantanamo camp unanimously approved the transfer, the statement said.
Detainees from nations actively battling Islamist extremists — such as Yemen — are not released to their countries to ensure they don’t join terror groups there.
The detainees transferred to Oman on Friday are Idris Ahmad ‘Abd Al Qadir Idris, Sharaf Ahmad Muhammad Mas’ud, Jalal Salam Awad Awad, Saa’d Nasser Moqbil Al Azani, Emad Abdallah Hassan, and Muhammad Ali Salem Al Zarnuki.