The U.S. military has sent 16 detainees from its military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to authorities in Saudi Arabia, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The move was made amid discussions within the Bush administration about how to close the facility, according to the report.
Included in the unusually large group was Bahraini national Jumah al-Dossari, 33, a longtime Guantanamo detainee who had drawn attention for trying to kill himself nearly two dozen times.
Dossari, who has family ties to Saudi Arabia, wrote emotional letters to his U.S. civilian lawyer describing agonizing years in U.S. custody.
The transfer -- the largest since 34 detainees left Guantanamo in one week in December -- is indicative of the Bush administration's desire to reduce the prison population there.
"Today's transfer represented a fairly large group. We're down to 360, so we're making progress there," said Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.
The detainees arrived in Riyadh early Monday morning, when they were taken into Saudi custody and immediately received food and clothes and met with family members.
Approximately 415 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo since 2002 and about 360 remain there.
Source: Xinhua
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