The Biden administration recently transferred 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Oman. These detainees, including two former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden, had been held for over two decades without charges or trials after being captured following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Oman has agreed to help resettle them as part of efforts to reduce the population at the controversial military facility.
The U.S. Department of Defense expressed gratitude to Oman and other partners for supporting these efforts, which are aimed at responsibly reducing the number of detainees and eventually closing Guantánamo Bay. Among those transferred were Ahmed al-Alwi and Anam al Sharabi, both linked to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda activities. Reports indicated that al-Alwi had previously expressed extremist views, while al Sharabi was allegedly involved in plans for a 9/11-style hijacking.
The operation to transfer the detainees was carried out secretly in the early morning, just days before Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a key figure in the September 11 attacks, was set to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. This plea deal, which has faced criticism from Republicans and families of 9/11 victims, involves Mohammed and two co-conspirators accepting life sentences instead of going to trial.
The plan to transfer the detainees had been in the works for three years but was delayed due to opposition from lawmakers. Officials did not specify why Oman was chosen to receive the detainees, though it is considered one of the United States’ most stable allies in the Middle East.
Among those released was Shaqawi al Hajj, who had protested his 21 years of imprisonment through repeated hunger strikes and hospitalizations. The release of these detainees reduces the number of people held at Guantánamo to just 15, the lowest since the facility’s establishment in 2002. The remaining detainees include six individuals held without charges, two convicted inmates, and seven others charged in connection with major terrorist attacks, including the September 11 attacks, the 2000 USS Cole bombing, and the 2002 Bali bombings.
