15 Guantanamo Detainees Sent to United Arab Emirates

— -- The Pentagon has transferred 15 Guantanamo detainees to the United Arab Emirates, the largest transfer of detainees during the Obama administration. The transfer reduces to 61 the number of detainees still held at the detention facility and is another sign that the Obama administration continues pressing with efforts to reduce the prison population.

Twelve of the 15 detainees transferred to the United Arab Emirates are from Yemen, while the remaining three detainees are from Afghanistan.

Monday's transfer leaves 20 detainees at Guantanamo who have been cleared for release, the majority of whom are Yemeni. Their transfers have been problematic because they are prevented from returning to their home country and the Obama administration is being forced to look for third countries willing to take in the transferred Yemeni detainees.

The Yemeni nationals transferred to UAE are: Muhammad Ahmad Said Al-Adahi, Abdel Qadir Al-Mudafari, Zahir Umar Hamis bin Hamdun, Bashir Nasir Ali Al-Marwalah, Mahmud Abdulaziz Al-Mujahid, Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmed, Abd Al-Muhsin Abd Al-Rab Salih Al-Busi, Abd Al-Rahman Sulayman, Saeed Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah Sarem Jarabh, Mohammed Nasir Yahi Khussrof Kazaz, Abdul Muhammad Ahmad Nassar Al-Muhajari and Ayyub Mursid Ali Salih.

The Afghan detainees transferred to UAE are Obaidullah, Muhammad Kamin, and Hamid Al-Razak.

Al-Adahi, Al-Mudafari, Al-Busi, Sulayman, Kazaz and Muhajari were all approved for transfer nearly six years ago by the six departments and agencies that since 2009 have reviewed the cases of the remaining Guantanamo detainees.

Stymied by congressional opposition, President Obama has been unable to follow through with a presidential campaign promise to close the detention facility.

In February, the Obama administration released a plan to Congress detailing how it still hopes to close the facility. But that proposal was also received negatively by congressional opponents who want to keep the facility open.

Last year, Pentagon review teams visited a mix of civilian and military facilities in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado that might serve to house the small number of detainees who can never be released.