The United States on Wednesday approved the transfer of five more detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, including Guled Hassan Duran, a key figure of the al-Qaeda terror group.
The Washington Post reported that the five detainees released from U.S. custody are Duran, Moath al-Alwi, Suhail al-Sharabi, Zakaria al-Baidany and Abdulmalik Bajabu.
It also reported that none of the detainees had been charged with any crime.
The move came as the prison turned 20 years old on Tuesday as President Joe Biden had been criticised by some human rights groups for not taking more action to close the facility.
To date, 18 of 39 detainees in Guantanamo Bay have been cleared by U.S. national security officials for transfer out of the military prison in Cuba.
No date has been announced when any of the 18 detainees cleared for transfer would leave.
Duran’s attorneys claimed that Duran, a Somali national suspected of being a key member of al-Qaeda’s branch in East Africa was kept at CIA black sites for two years.
