SANAA, Yemen, May 24 (UPI) -- Yemen will work with detainees deported from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to rehabilitate them, a Yemeni official says.
The Yemeni news agency Saba reported Monday Yemeni Endowments and Guidance Minister Hamoud al-Hitar told al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper Yemen is prepared to deal with the detainees returned from Guantanamo.
Saba said Yemeni authorities have already done so with a large number of al-Qaida members, with a three-phase program that starts with surveillance followed by human development courses. The third phase, yet to be implemented, is to provide employment opportunities and reintegrate the detainees with their families and other people, the minister said.
Saba said Yemenis account for nearly half of the prisoners still at Guantanamo. The news agency said the United States recently released some Yemeni detainees, including one sent to Spain in the past few weeks.
