Pentagon announces transfer of two Guantanamo detainees

The Pentagon on Monday announced transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Senegal, bringing the population of the notorious U.S. detention facility in Cuba to under 90.

The two detainees, both Libyans, are Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, and their transfers were approved by six U.S. departments and agencies comprising the review board, said a Pentagon statement.

According to files by the New York Times, Ghereby was described as a "former explosives trainer and veteran jihad fighter," while Umar was a weapon trainer and a commander of a militant camp.

After the latest transfers of two detainees, there were 89 detainees currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

In his apparently last-ditch effort to seek cooperation from a hostile Republican-controlled Congress to close the Guantanamo detention facility, U.S. President Barack Obama in February unveiled a long-stalled closure plan.

According to the plan, some of the detainees still held in Guantanamo would be transferred to other countries, and the Obama administration would review the threat posed by detainees who were not eligible for transfers and identify those eligible for military trials.

However, the closure plan left unanswered a crucial question as to where the administration would put some detainees ineligible for transfers inside the United States.

Republicans in the Congress had already pledged to fight against bringing any Guantanamo detainees back to the United States. Endit