NNA - The United States has sent two detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility back to their native Sudan, the Defense Department said on Wednesday, the latest transfers in a effort toward eventually closing the controversial prison, Reuters reported.



The repatriation of Noor Uthman Muhammed, who is about 46 years old, and Ibrahim Idris, who is roughly 52, to the North African country decreased the prisoner count to 158, Defense Department spokesman Lieutenant Colonel J. Todd Breasseale said in a statement.



"The United States coordinated with the government of Sudan regarding appropriate security measures and to ensure that these transfers are consistent with our humane treatment policy," Breasseale said.



The Cuba-based facility was set up to house foreigners rounded up in counter-terrorism operations in the wake of the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, which killed nearly 3,000 people.


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