[JURIST] Four Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees have been transferred to Albania and Spain, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Wednesday. Three detainees, Tunisia native Aleh Bin Hadi Asasi, Egypt native Sharif Fati Ali al Mishad, and Libya native Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammad Abu al Qusin, were transferred to Albania [press release] and the fourth, an unidentified detainee from the Palestinian territories, was transferred to Spain [press release]. The transfers, approved with unanimous consent by the Guantanamo Bay Task Force, add to the more than 580 Guantanamo detainees transferred to other nations since 2002. There are still 188 remaining at the Guantanamo facility in Cuba.

Earlier this month, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos announced that Spain would accept five Guantanamo detainees [JURIST report]. The country had previously agreed [JURIST report] to accept only two detainees, one Yemeni and one Palestinian, in response to a June request by the Obama administration, which continues its push to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, despite missing its self-imposed one-year deadline in January. The administration has run into several hurdles in closing the prison, including opposition from members of Congress and the suspension of detainee transfers to Yemen [JURIST report]. Spain and Albania join the growing list of countries that have recently accepted transfers, including Latvia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Afghanistan, Palau , Bermuda, Algeria and Somaliland [JURIST reports].