RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Agencies) – The security spokesman at the interior ministry has said that 14 Saudis, who were formerly detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned to the Kingdom on Saturday morning.
This latest transfer of detainees brings the number of Saudi nationals remaining in Guantanamo to 22.
U.S. authorities’ last transfer of Saudis from Guantanamo was in September when 16 prisoners were returned.
About 340 detainees remain in Guantanamo on suspicion of links to terrorism, al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Most have been held for years without being charged.
The 14 Saudis released on Saturday included:
1-Fahd Omar Abdulmajeed al-Omari al-Shareef
2-Yousef Mohammed Mubarak al-Jubeirr al-shi’hri
3-Fahd Sultan Obeid al-Oseimi al-Oteibi
4-Turki Mash’ouri Zayed al-Jabali Aseeri
5-Sultan Ahmad bin al-Derdir Oweidah
6-Naif Abdullah Ibrahim al-Nikheilan
7-Abdullah Abdul-Mueen Mualla al-Wafi al-Harbi
8-Mohammed Ateeq Oweid al-Aufi al-Harbi
9-Saeed Ali Jaber al-Khuteim al-Shi’hri
10-Hani Saeed Mohammed al-Khalaf al-Ghamidi
11- Khalid Saud Abdulrahman al-Bawardi
12-Murtadha Ali Saeed Mukrem
13-Jaber Hassan Mohammed al-Jabrah al-Qahtani
14-Zeid Mohammed Saad al-Hussein al-Ghamidi
The spokesman said the required arrangements have been completed to inform their relatives of their return, and to provide all possible facilities to the relatives to meet them.