U.S. Arranging to Send Prisoners to Saudi Arabia

By JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON -- Some of the roughly 100 Yemenis held at Guantanamo Bay would go to Saudi Arabia under a plan being discussed by U.S. and Saudi officials, said people briefed on the talks.

Yemenis make up the largest national grouping among the roughly 250 inmates still at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo. U.S. officials believe addressing their fate is urgent if President Barack Obama is to make good on his commitment to close the prison by January 2010.

U.S. officials say about 15 of the Yemenis have been cleared for transfer to Yemen, and another 15 are likely to face some kind of U.S. trial.

The remainder pose a quandary: The U.S. no longer wants to hold them, but it fears that Yemen's government lacks the means to rehabilitate the men, many of whom officials say pose a threat to the U.S. And American officials question whether Yemen has sufficient law-enforcement muscle to keep tabs on returnees.

Ali Abdullah Saleh

U.S. and Arab officials said Saudi authorities have developed a program for Islamist extremists that is largely viewed as a success by U.S. and European counterterrorism officials. The program includes vocational training, family reunification and religious tutoring.

Yemen's government has indicated it will contest any American efforts to transfer Yemeni nationals to Saudi Arabia. The detainee question is a political issue for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemeni officials says they're developing their own rehabilitation program that includes religious and vocational training, but would require U.S. financial assistance.

"We refused the offer to release the Yemenis to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation, and we told them we would establish our own center for rehabilitating them and helping to rid the country of extremism and violence," Mr. Saleh told a conference of Yemeni police commanders in late January, according to Yemen's state media.

A State Department spokesman declined to specifically address the Yemeni issue but said the U.S. "has been in contact with dozens of countries about resettling those detainees at Guantanamo Bay eligible for transfer or release." Saudi officials didn't reply to requests seeking comment.

An Arab official briefed on the discussions said the U.S. is examining whether it can in the near term transfer to Saudi custody around 20 Yemenis with direct family connections to Saudi Arabia.

Yemen and Saudi Arabia share a border and some of the same tribal families. Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is a Saudi national, but his family's ancestral home is in Yemen.

"It seems like the Saudis are willing to rehabilitate them," said the Arab official, noting Riyadh is concerned about the threat posed to Saudi Arabia by Yemen's security situation.

U.S. officials say Saudi Arabia's rehabilitation program isn't fail-safe. Last month, two Saudi nationals who were released from Guantanamo and passed through the program appeared in a video as senior members of al Qaeda's Yemen operations.

U.S. counterterrorism officials worry that Yemen is becoming a bigger base of operations for al Qaeda. In September, a six-member suicide squad attacked the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital of San'a, killing 13 people.

U.S. officials complain about Yemen's lax detention facilities. Twenty-three Yemeni men, some suspected of involvement in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, escaped from prison in 2006, according to U.S. officials. Another suspect, Jamal al-Badawi, also escaped but was put back into custody last fall under U.S. pressure.

Two Yemenis, Ramzi Binalshibh and Wali bin Attash, face prosecution by the U.S. for alleged roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters this month she is gauging European interest in resettling Guantanamo detainees. "I think we have been quite encouraged at the positive, receptive responses we've been getting," she said.