U.S. releases four from Guantanamo

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon announced Saturday that four detainees have been sent home to Afghanistan from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of the U.S. government’s ongoing release of former terrorism suspects who have been held for years.

Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani, and Mohammed Zahir are the latest identified prisoners to be released from the prison, a Pentagon statement said.

“The United States is grateful to the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for its willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the statement said.

The release follows a comprehensive review by a Guantanamo task force that examines a number of factors, including security issues. The men were unanimously approved for release, the Pentagon said.

One hundred thirty-two detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.

Obama pledged to close Guantanamo with his first executive order in 2009 and began a case-by-case review during his first year in office to determine which of the foreign detainees could be prosecuted, which posed no danger to U.S. or allied security and should be released or transferred, and which should remain imprisoned because of credible fears they would resume terrorist activity if sent home.

But Congress prevented the transfer to U.S. federal courts of those to be tried for war crimes, and imposed restrictions on the transfer of detainees for resettlement abroad. Those restrictions were eased a year ago and the administration’s relocation of prisoners deemed nonthreatening has accelerated in recent weeks.

The U.S. has released about two dozen prisoners this year.