New York – United States has commended Senegal for its ‘generous assistance’ to two humanitarian resettlement to two individuals formerly in Department of Defence custody at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility.
This is contained in a statement issued by the U.S. State Department on Monday in New York.
The statement quoted Secretary of State, John Kerry as saying that ” U.S. is grateful to our partner, the Republic of Senegal, for offering humanitarian resettlement to two individuals formerly in Department of Defence custody at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility”.
The statement confirmed that the Department of Defence transferred two Libyan nationals to the Republic of Senegal.
The two individuals are Salem Ghereby, with Internment Serial Number 189 and Omar Umar with serial number 695.
It added that Ghereby and Umar were unanimously approved for transfer by six U.S. government departments and agencies, either through the 2009-2010 Executive Order Task Forces or the more recent Periodic Review Board process.
It added that Senegal joins 26 different countries which, since 2009, have extended resettlement opportunities to nearly 100 detainees.
“As the President has repeatedly made clear, the Administration is determined to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
“The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and serving as a propaganda tool for violent extremists.
“We are taking all possible steps to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo and to close the detention facility in a responsible manner that protects our national security,” Kerry said. (NAN)
