U.S. sends 12 Guantanamo detainees to their home countries

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The U.S. has transferred a dozen Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region as the Obama administration continues to move captives out of the facility in Cuba in preparation for its closure.

The Justice Department said today that a government task force had reviewed each case. Officials considered the potential threat and the government’s likelihood of success in court challenges to the detentions.

Over the weekend, four Afghan detainees were transferred to their home country. Two Somali detainees were transferred to authorities in Somaliland, the semiautonomous northern region of Somalia. Six Yemeni detainees also were sent home.

The Justice Department said that since 2002, more than 560 detainees have departed the military prison in Cuba and that 198 remain.

The administration has announced that five Guantanamo detainees will be tried in a New York federal court, and more are likely to be tried in this country.

Up to 100 detainees will be sent to a nearly empty prison in Thomson, Ill.

President Obama says he won’t set a new deadline for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, but does expect the facility to shut down sometime next year.

The administration has abandoned the January 2010 deadline Obama set for closure soon after taking office. Obama has said he realized that things move more slowly in Washington than he expected.

-- Associated Press