Loan Adviser

U.S. clears75 prisoners at Guantanamo for release

MIAMI (Reuters) – A team of U.S. government cleared 75 of the 223 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo Bay prison for his release, as part of the attempt to close the detention camp, a military spokesman said Monday.

The review team examines each case to decide which prisoners will be held for trial, and which will be sent home or resettled in other nations.

U.S. President , Barack Obama, set Jan. 22 as the deadline for closing the detention center, although Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said during an interview aired by ABC News on Sunday will be difficult to meet the deadline.

While the review team decides, military officials at Guantanamo released an updated list in the center, so that prisoners know how many of each nation have been declared free to go.

It was an opportunity to provide better communication, said Navy Lt. Cmdr Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the Guantanamo detention management.

There is much information there and have a lot of things from many different angles. It helps to put it in a more concise for them, he said.

Prisoners are aware of Obama's announcement that the prison will closed, and gradually have heard information from his lawyers and family members during phone calls arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The list was published in Arabic, Pashto and English. The final list of 78 prisoners including two Uzbeks shipped to Ireland and a Yemeni who returned to his homeland on Saturday, a sign of progress in cutting the prison population, freeing those who are not considered a threat.

We're not focused on whether the deadline will be met or not on a specific day, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. (…) We are focused on making the most progress possible, he said.

Palau, an island in the Pacific Ocean agreed to accept most of the 13 Chinese Uighurs are on the list of the 30 that are released by the U.S. courts, but are still awaiting transfer.

The list also has 26 captured in Yemen, Tunisia nine, seven in Algeria Four of Syria, Libya and three of three from Saudi Arabia, two from Uzbekistan, two Egyptians, two West Bank and two in Kuwait, and one of Azerbaijan and one from Tajikistan.

Most were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan after U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust Al Qaeda in response to air attack of 11 September in America.

(Reporting Additional Ross Colvin in Washington, editing by Jill Serjeant Spanish)