No new date has been set for the transfer of inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Getty Images
No new date has been set for the transfer of inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Getty Images
No new date has been set for the transfer of inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Getty Images
No new date has been set for the transfer of inmates at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Getty Images

US halted Guantanamo inmates' transfer to Oman due to Hamas October 7 attack


Patrick deHahn
  • English
  • Arabic

The US was due to transfer 11 detainees from its Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Oman in October, but plans were aborted at the last minute, apparently due to the Hamas-led attack on Israel, news organisations reported this week.

NBC, which first reported on the issue, quoted four US officials who said no new date has been set for the inmates' transfer, more than seven months later.

The New York Times reported that the prisoners, all Yemeni citizens, have not been charged with crimes and had been cleared for transfer to Oman by national security officials.

US President Joe Biden's administration notified Congress of the transfer, as required by law.

But administration officials told the Times that Democratic members of Congress had voiced concern over the timing of the transfer, which would have followed Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.

The Biden administration agreed to delay the transfer right after the detainees had been taken to the airport, the officials told the Times.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing up to 1,200 people, according to government officials.

Israel has since conducted military operations in Gaza, where more than 35,600 people have been killed, according to health officials in the enclave.

Sources told NBC that they believed the pause on the transfer was politically motivated.

The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the matter.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told the Times that Oman is a “trusted partner” that “co-operates closely” on several issues, “including on the rehabilitation of Guantanamo detainees”.

There are 30 men being held at Guantanamo Bay, according to the Times.

Sixteen of them have not been charged with crimes and have been recommended for transfer to another country.

If the 11 Yemenis had been transferred to Oman, the detention camp population would have dipped below 20 for the first time – a goal for Mr Biden as he continues his re-election campaign against Donald Trump.

The administration said at the start of Mr Biden's presidency that it wanted to close the military facility in Cuba by the end of his term, after Mr Trump halted all transfers during his mandate.

Several transfers have taken place since 2021.

Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi. 

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley

If you go...

Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.

Bert van Marwijk factfile

Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder

Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia

Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands

The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
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Rating: 2/5

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Teaching your child to save

Pre-school (three - five years)

You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.

Early childhood (six - eight years)

Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.

Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)

Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.

Young teens (12 - 14 years)

Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.

Teenage (15 - 18 years)

Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.

Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)

Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.

* JP Morgan Private Bank 

Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

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Updated: May 21, 2024, 10:03 PM