US sends 6 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Uruguay

Associated Press

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay

Six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay have arrived as refugees in Uruguay, a South American nation with only a tiny Muslim population, amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison.

The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — were detained as suspected militants with ties to al-Qaeda in 2002 but were never charged.

They had been cleared for release since 2009 but could not be sent home, and the U.S. struggled to find countries willing to take them.

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica agreed to accept the men as a humanitarian gesture and said they would be given help getting established in a country of 3.3 million with a total Muslim population of perhaps 300 people.

“We are very grateful to Uruguay for this important humanitarian action, and to President Mujica for his strong leadership in providing a home for individuals who cannot return to their own countries,” U.S. State Department envoy Clifford Sloan said.