Transfer of British Detainees Complete
March 09, 2004

The Department of Defense announced today that it transferred five British detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the British government today.

The decision to transfer or release a detainee is based on many factors, including whether the detainee is of further intelligence value to the United States and whether he poses a threat to the United States or its allies. The decision to transfer these detainees was made after extensive discussions between our two governments. The British government has agreed to accept the transfer of these detainees and to take responsibility to ensure that the detainees do not pose a security threat to the United States or our allies.

During the course of the War on Terrorism, the department expects that there will be other transfers or releases of detainees.

Because of operational and security considerations, no further details can be provided.

Previously, 88 detainees have been released and 12 others have been transferred for continued detention (previously four to the Saudi Arabian government, one to the Spanish government, and seven to the Russian government).