Guantanamo Bay: US officials to release more convicts from notorious military prison
THE Pentagon has told the US Congress it plans to release about a dozen prisoners held at the notorious Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Barack Obama has repeatedly vowed to shut down the military prison
The first set of convicts are expected be moved abroad in the next few days, while the others will occur in coming weeks.
Sources claim they will include Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni man who arrived at Guantanamo in 2002 has been on hunger strike since 2007.
Ninety other prisoners are held at the prison in Cuba, which Barack Obama has vowed to shut before he leaves office in January.
The Administration is committed to closing the facility responsibly
According to the Washington Post, 37 have been approved for repatriation or resettlement in a third country.
But Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross refused to reveal when they would be transferred.
He said: "The Administration is committed to reducing the detainee population and to closing the detention facility responsibly."
Yemeni prisoner Tariq Ba Odah has been on hunger strike since 2007
Ba Odahm, 37, was cleared but transfer in 2009 but he cannot be sent home because Congress has banned prisoners from being sent to Yemen.
One of the best known Guantanamo detainees, his weight dipped to just 5.3 stone last year amid fears he could die at the prison.
And last year a doctor claimed he faces "faces persistent, serious medical risk even without losing any more weight".
The 37-year-old weight's dipped to 5.3 stone last year amid fears he could die
In February Barack Obama said he had spent "countless hours" trying to close Guantanamo in the face of resistance by Congress.
He said: "I am very clear-eyed about the hurdles to finally closing Guantanamo – the politics of this are tough.
"I don't want to pass this problem on to the next president, whoever it is. And if we don’t deal with this now, when will we deal with it?"