The Obama administration will transfer four detainees to Saudi Arabia from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The names and nationalities of the four prisoners were not immediately known.
The administration is making a final push to transfer at least 19 prisoners to four countries — Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — before Donald Trump is sworn in as president January 20.
The Pentagon says the prisoner transfers will continue despite the objections of Trump.
The president-elect Tuesday signaled his view that all of those held at Guantanamo should remain, despite interagency reviews that have deemed many of them eligible to leave.
“There should be no further releases from Gitmo,” he tweeted. “These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.”
If the planned transfers are successful, it will leave 40 detainees at Guantanamo, marking a failure for President Barack Obama, who had promised to close the facility when first elected to office.
Trump has vowed to keep the Guantanamo military prison open and “load it up with some bad dudes.”
