A detainee being held at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has been transferred to Italy, the Department of Defense announced Sunday.
Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman was unanimously approved for transport by the six departments and agencies making up the president’s interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force, which reviewed this case.
{mosads}The transfer means 78 captives now remain at Guantánamo, which President Obama pledged to close when he took office.
“The United States is grateful to the Government of Italy for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said in a news release.
“The United States coordinated with the Government of Italy to ensure this transfer took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
Suleiman left Saturday before dawn, according to The Miami Herald.
Suleiman was never charged with a crime and was cleared for release by an Obama administration task force in 2009.
As a Yemeni, he could not go home, so State Department officials had to find another nation to take him.