[JURIST] Yemen has agreed to receive most Yemeni detainees held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], a senior Yemeni official told Reuters Sunday. The official said that "there are continuous talks with the Americans to hand over the Yemenis in Guantanamo to the Yemeni government," although the official did not specify how many prisoners would be transferred to Yemen [JURIST news archive] or when the transfers would take place. A team of US lawyers representing Yemeni nationals at Guantanamo estimates that approximately 100 detainees currently held at Guantanamo are Yemeni citizens, and called for the Yemeni government to be "assertive and affirmative" to help secure the release of Yemeni detainees.

In June of last year, Yemeni officials called for investigations [JURIST report] into the Guantanamo suicides of three detainees [JURIST report], including one Yemeni national, saying that the deaths exemplified the "inhumane conditions of detainees" at the US military prison. Earlier this month the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to a defense spending bill that would require the Pentagon to develop a Guantanamo shutdown plan [JURIST report]. Reuters has more. DPA has additional coverage.