Analysts say it is part of a push by outgoing President Barack Obama to reduce the inmate population before he leaves office.
Oman says it has taken in ten prisoners released by the US from its Guantanamo Bay military prison.
“To meet a request by the US government to assist in settling the issue of the detainees of Guantanamo, out of consideration of their humanitarian situation, ten people released from that prison arrived in the Sultanate of Oman for a temporary residency,” Oman’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Why have they done this?
Analysts say it is part of a push by outgoing President Barack Obama to reduce the inmate population before he leaves office.
The US president has not managed to fulfill his election campaign promise of closing the controversial detention facility while he was in power.
The number of detainees:
- 242 – January 2009
- 45 – January 2016 (after latest transfer)
Preventing drilling in the Arctic, releasing prisoners from Guantanamo; just two of the things Obama has been doing since Trump got elected. pic.twitter.com/FRARL7vb5z
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 10, 2017
Oman accepts 10 inmates from Guantanamo Bay prison https://t.co/EJqfvR2p21
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 16, 2017
What they are saying
15 years on, will #Guantanamo Bay prison camp be resurrected under President #Trump? https://t.co/ibgGgVYDiTpic.twitter.com/a9A1PoNBOO
— dwnews (@dwnews) January 10, 2017
President-elect Donald Trump has said he is against detainees being released from Guantanamo, claiming they pose a security risk.
