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US halts Guantanamo-Yemen moves Obama reaffirms Guantanamo plans
(about 3 hours later)
The US has said it is temporarily suspending the transfer of prisoners to Yemen from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. US President Barack Obama has said an alleged plot to bring down an airliner will not prevent the closure of the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.
The move comes after it emerged the Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a US plane on 25 December was allegedly trained by al-Qaeda in Yemen. The US has suspended the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners held there in the wake of the plot, which was claimed by a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot.
More than 80 Yemeni men were due to be moved from Guantanamo Bay, as the US tries to shut down the camp. Nearly half of those remaining at the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are from Yemen.
Officials fear many could re-join militant groups if sent back to Yemen. Mr Obama originally set a January 22 deadline to close the prison camp.
"While we remain committed to closing the facility, the determination has been made that right now, any additional transfers to Yemen are not a good idea," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. But he admitted last November that that deadline had slipped to later in 2010.
US President Barack Obama has come under pressure to halt Guantanamo transfers to Yemen since investigators said 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been trained in that country to blow up a transatlantic flight to Detroit on Christmas Day. Officials fear that Yemenis released from Guantanamo and sent back to Yemen could rejoin militant groups.
"Make no mistake, we will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al-Qaeda," Mr Obama said on Tuesday during a briefing on security reviews ordered after the airliner plot.
"We will close the prison in a manner that keeps the American people safe and secure."
A 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is accused of trying to bomb a US plane on 25 December over the US city of Detroit.
The plot was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen, and the suspect was allegedly trained there.
It was alleged last week that the bomb plot was planned by two men who were released by the US from Guantanamo Bay in November 2007.It was alleged last week that the bomb plot was planned by two men who were released by the US from Guantanamo Bay in November 2007.
Mohammed Atiq al-Harbi, also known as Mohammed al-Awfi, and Said Ali al-Shihri were sent home to Saudi Arabia, where they were admitted to an "art therapy rehabilitation programme" and later set free, US and Saudi officials said. Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "While we remain committed to closing the facility, the determination has been made that right now, any additional transfers to Yemen are not a good idea."
Yemenis account for almost half of the nearly 200 detainees who remain at the US military base.
President Obama had pledged to shut the controversial detention centre by 22 January, but admitted last November that deadline had slipped to later in 2010.
His administration has said closing Guantanamo Bay is "essential" in removing a key al-Qaeda recruiting tool.
The US president announced plans last month for many of the detainees to be sent to a prison in the US state of Illinois.
Some will face trials in US criminal or military courts, while others were to be transferred abroad.