Yemen will begin building an $11 million rehabilitation centre for returning Guantanamo detainees in three months when it expects to receive funding from the United States, a government official said Wednesday. There are 91 Yemeni detainees left in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Washington suspended transfers to Yemen this month because of a deteriorating security situation in the country, in the throes of a crackdown on a resurgent Al-Qaeda. Foreign ministers of Western powers, Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey were meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss ways to stabilise Yemen as it grapples with al Qaeda, a northern Shi'ite revolt and southern separatism. “Setting up the centre will require $11 million and the US side has announced it is prepared to provide the entire sum,” the official said, declining to be named. Yemen declared open war on Al-Qaeda this month, stepping up air strikes and security sweeps after the Yemen-based regional arm of al Qaeda said it was behind a failed Dec. 25 bid to blow up a US-bound airliner. Global powers fear Yemen will become a failed state, allowing Al-Qaeda to exploit chaos and use the country as a base for more international attacks. The Yemeni official said the rehabilitation centre will be located either in the capital Sana'a or in the province of Hadramout, home to a number of moderate religious education establishments. It will be run by Yemen's Ministry of Religious Endowments, and will likely be headed by an influential cleric known for his moderate views, the official said, without naming him. US President Barack Obama's goal to shut Guantanamo, which opened in 2002 to hold foreign terror suspects, within a year of taking office went unfulfilled when the first anniversary of his inauguration passed last week. The US Justice Department said on Tuesday an Uzbek Guantanamo detainee had been sent to Switzerland for resettlement, the latest transfer from the facility. Three detainees were sent to Slovakia Sunday, two Algerians were sent home last week and 12 detainees were sent to Yemen, Afghanistan and Somaliland in late December. Guantanamo's Yemeni detainees present a big challenge to the closure of the prison. Although some have been cleared to go home, the United States says it cannot release them because militant Al-Qaeda cells are active in Yemen and US officials are concerned those released could join the group.
