2 Guantanamo detainees sent to Portugal
By Devlin Barrett, APFriday, August 28, 2009
2 Gitmo detainees sent to Portugal
WASHINGTON — Two Syrians held at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Portugal.
The Justice Department announced the transfer without naming the detainees. The move leaves 226 people at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Justice Department says the two were handed over “to the control of the government of Portugal,” but it was not immediately clear if that meant they would remain in custody there.
The Obama administration recently notified Congress that it planned to transfer six detainees — one to Afghanistan, two to Portugal, and three others, but it is not yet clear where the remaining three are headed.
President Barack Obama has ordered the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to be closed by January 2010.
