WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- Sixteen Saudi detainees have been released from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and have returned to Saudi Arabia, officials said Monday.
A Defense Department spokesman said the group arrived in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Monday after a decision was made to reduce the number of "enemy combatants" housed at the camp.
"We are trying to reduce the population there," U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, told The Washington Post. "There are certain risks you take with every transfer, and we're trying to ensure that detainees can be transferred back to their home countries."
Gordon said after the prisoner transfer there are about 360 foreign detainees still at Guantanamo.
"We're down to 360, so we're making progress there," he said.
The Post said about 75 detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia over the last few years and another 50 from that Mideast country remain.
