<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=16457">http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=16457</a></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">---------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><span id="ctl00_cphBody_ContentContents_PressOpsItemContentPreTitle" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="PressOpsContentBody" style="padding: 0px; margin: 2px 0px 10px; font-weight: bold;">IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Release No: NR-101-13<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">December 31, 2013<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></div></span><h3 id="ctl00_cphBody_ContentContents_PressOpsItemContentBlockTitle1" class="PressOpsItemContentBlockTitle" style="padding: 0px; margin: 2px 0px 10px;"><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Detainee Transfer Announced</span></font></h3><div class="PressOpsContentBody" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 563px;"><span id="ctl00_cphBody_ContentContents_lblArticleContent" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following:</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“The Department of Defense is announcing today the transfer of Yusef Abbas, Saidullah Khalik, and Hajiakbar Abdul Ghuper from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Slovakia.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“These three are the last ethnic Uighur Chinese nationals to be transferred. They were subject to release from Guantanamo as a result of a court order issued on Oct. 7, 2008, by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and are voluntarily resettling in Slovakia.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“As directed by the president's Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, these individuals were designated for transfer by unanimous consent among all six agencies on the task force.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“In accordance with statutory reporting requirements, the administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer these individuals.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“The United States is grateful to the government of Slovakia for this humanitarian gesture and its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The United States coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure the transfer took place in accordance with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“This transfer and resettlement constitutes a significant milestone in our effort to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Secretary Hagel remains grateful to the Defense Department's Special Envoy Paul Lewis, and Department of State Special Envoy Cliff Sloan, for their and their respective teams' many efforts that facilitated this successful transfer.</p><p style="padding: 0px 0px 12px; margin: 0px;">“Today, 155 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.”</p></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">---------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></body></html>