Two More Guantánamo Detainees Are Approved for Release

Two men who person been held for years without charges astatine Guantánamo Bay — a Yemeni and an Afghan whose repatriation would astir apt necessitate reaching an statement with the Taliban — person been approved for transfer, according to documents released connected Wednesday.

The interagency Periodic Review Board endorsed the transfers of Sanad Yislam al-Kazimi and Assadullah Haroon Gul with information arrangements, but did not suggest wherever Mr. Gul, an Afghan national who has been held by the U.S. subject since 2007, mightiness beryllium sent.

The committee said that Mr. al-Kazimi should beryllium resettled successful Oman, a Persian Gulf state abutting his autochthonal Yemen whose rehabilitation programme received 30 detainees during the Obama administration. Yemen is considered excessively unstable to show and assistance rehabilitate returnees.

The committee approved Mr. al-Kazimi’s transportation connected Oct. 7, little than 2 weeks aft the State Department authoritative liable for overseeing detainee transportation arrangements, John T. Godfrey, visited Oman, the United Arab Emirates and London successful his capableness arsenic acting coordinator for counterterrorism.

Biden medication officials would not remark connected efforts to repatriate oregon resettle the cleared detainees.

Mr. al-Kazimi, 41, was captured successful Dubai successful January 2003. U.S. subject quality considered him to beryllium a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden successful Afghanistan. Mr. al-Kazimi’s lawyer, Martha Rayner, a prof astatine Fordham Law School, said helium was successful “pretty good” wellness and “looks guardant to being transferred arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and different officials person said the president’s extremity is to bare the detention halfway astatine Guantánamo Bay, reviving a committedness made by President Barack Obama erstwhile Mr. Biden was the vice president.

Congress thwarted that effort by forbidding the transportation of immoderate detainee from Guantánamo to the United States for immoderate reason. The Biden medication has made nary advancement connected lifting the restriction, which would beryllium a cardinal measurement toward closing the prison. Only 1 detainee, Abdul Latif Nasser of Morocco, has been released since Mr. Biden took office, and that was nether an statement reached during the Obama administration.

The disclosures connected Wednesday raised to 12 the fig of men among the 39 wartime detainees astatine Guantánamo who tin beryllium released if the United States tin scope an statement with a receiving federation to enforce information restrictions, which would see measures specified arsenic restricting their quality to question abroad.

Another 12 are successful subject committee proceedings, six of whom are charged successful superior cases. The different 15 detainees are held arsenic “law of war” prisoners, fundamentally everlastingly captives of the struggle that began aft the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Ms. Rayner said Mr. al-Kazimi sought to beryllium transferred to an Arabic-speaking state wherever helium could beryllium reunited with his woman and would beryllium capable to “someday spot his 4 children and his grandchildren.”

“What helium wants is to unrecorded successful a unchangeable state successful peace,” she said. But she added that Mr. al-Kazimi is “concerned astir the unknowns up of him — and knows that galore men person been cleared and yet languished for years.”

Mr. Gul’s transportation presents much difficulties. His lawyers person been pursuing his merchandise done an unlawful detention petition successful national court, and past twelvemonth obtained enactment for his repatriation from the authorities of Afghanistan, earlier it fell to the Taliban.

Understand the Taliban Takeover successful Afghanistan

He was captured by Afghan forces portion serving arsenic a commandant of the Hezb-i-Islami militia, which fought the American and allied penetration of Afghanistan on with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The committee said successful its decision, besides dated Oct. 7, that it had concluded helium could beryllium safely transferred, with information arrangements, successful airy of his “lack of a enactment relation successful extremist organizations and his deficiency of a wide ideological ground for his anterior conduct.” It did not marque a proposal connected wherever helium should go.

The United States has repatriated much than 200 Afghan detainees during the astir 20 years it has held prisoners astatine Guantánamo, each of them portion Afghanistan was led by a authorities allied with and supported by the United States.

Oman has been considered an ideal, culturally compatible federation to person Yemeni detainees. The country’s programme has generated nary known contention and has helped Yemeni detainees find homes and jobs and, successful immoderate instances, allowed household members successful Yemen to nonstop women for them to marry.