WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says no more Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to Yemen for the time being — after a failed Christmas terror plot raised concerns about terrorists active in that country.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the government will not send additional detainees to Yemen for now, which could increase the number of inmates held at a planned prison for terror suspects in Illinois.
Gibbs’ comments reflect the growing worry about terrorists operating in that country since a Christmas attempt to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner by a Nigerian man who said he was acting on instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
Just days before the attempt, the U.S. sent six men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center back to their home country of Yemen.