Six Guantanamo prisoners sent to live in Uruguay after being held 12 years in US detention without charge
- The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — are the first prisoners transferred to South America from the US base in Cuba
- All were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda who were cleared for release in 2009 - only now would a country take them
- Uruguayan President Jose Mujica agreed to accept the men as a humanitarian gesture while asking Obama to end Cuba embargo
Six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Uruguay to be resettled as refugees, the U.S. government announced Sunday — a deal that had been delayed for months by security concerns at the Pentagon and political considerations in the South American country.
The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — are the first prisoners transferred to South America from the U.S. base in Cuba, part of a flurry of recent releases amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison.
All were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda in 2002 but were never charged. They had been cleared for release since 2009 but could not be sent home and the U.S. struggled to find countries willing to take them.
Jose Mujica, President of Uruguay, speaks during the UNASUR summit in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Mujica reiterated his willingness to resettle six Guantanamo prisoners in his country while calling on the United States to end its decades-old embargo against Cuba
