Six Yemeni Detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Be Repatriated

Six of the 97 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay and four Afghans will be repatriated to Yemen, possibly leading the way for dozens more to return to that country, the Washington Post reports. The transfer is the first major step in dealing with the largest group of detainees at the Cuba prison and toward President Obama's goal of closing it.

Questions about Yemen's ability to monitor and rehabilitate returning detainees have held up negotiations so far. Critics of repatriation argue that sending detainees to a country where al-Qaeda is believed to be flourishing is essentially returning soldiers to the battlefield. Months of high-level meetings between the Yemeni government and American officials, as well a visit to the country by the deputy director of the CIA., preceded the announcement.

"It's a breakthrough because the U.S. and Yemen governments have been at an impasse," said David Remes, an attorney for 17 Yemeni detainees. "Something has broken the logjam, and that's good, because you can't solve the Guantanamo problem without solving the Yemeni problem."

Forty-six percent of the remaining detainees are from Yemen. Since Guantanamo opened in 2002, 15 Yemenis have been repatriated to their home country, 14 by the Bush administration and 1 by the Obama administration.