Pentagon: Detainee was Repatriated from Guantanamo Bay to Tunisia

ARLINGTON, VA - DECEMBER 22: Birds fly near the Pentagon building over the US Air Force Memorial on December 22, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Tom Brenner/Getty Images/AFP
ARLINGTON, VA - DECEMBER 22: Birds fly near the Pentagon building over the US Air Force Memorial on December 22, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Tom Brenner/Getty Images/AFP
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Pentagon: Detainee was Repatriated from Guantanamo Bay to Tunisia

ARLINGTON, VA - DECEMBER 22: Birds fly near the Pentagon building over the US Air Force Memorial on December 22, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Tom Brenner/Getty Images/AFP
ARLINGTON, VA - DECEMBER 22: Birds fly near the Pentagon building over the US Air Force Memorial on December 22, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Tom Brenner/Getty Images/AFP

The US Department of Defense said on Monday that detainee Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi was repatriated from Guantanamo Bay to Tunisia.

It said 26 detainees remain at the facility, of which 14 are eligible for transfer.

Al-Yazidi, 59, was airlifted from the base in a secret operation that was completed 11 months after the Defense Department notified Congress that it had reached an agreement to return him to Tunisian custody, the Pentagon said.

It offered no details on the security arrangements surrounding his return.

Al-Yazidi was sent to the wartime prison the day it opened on Jan. 11, 2002.



After Putin Envoy’s US Talks, Kremlin Says Putin and Trump Have No Plans to Speak

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 04 April 2025. (EPA/Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 04 April 2025. (EPA/Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / Pool)
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After Putin Envoy’s US Talks, Kremlin Says Putin and Trump Have No Plans to Speak

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 04 April 2025. (EPA/Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 04 April 2025. (EPA/Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / Pool)

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump had no plans to talk after a visit to Washington by Putin's investment envoy as wider negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine appeared stalled.

NBC News reported on Thursday that Trump's inner circle is advising him not to speak to Putin again until the Russian leader commits to a full ceasefire in Ukraine, something Putin has said he is open to in principle, but only if a long list of conditions are met.

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's investment envoy, said on Thursday that he saw a "positive dynamic" in relations between Moscow and Washington after holding two days of meetings in Washington, but said more meetings were needed to sort out differences.

His visit came as a US-brokered agreement for Russia and Ukraine to stop striking each other's energy infrastructure appeared to be faltering, with Moscow and Kyiv repeatedly accusing each other of violating it. Reuters could not verify to what extent it was being respected.

Asked on Friday whether Putin and Trump would now speak by phone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:

"No, there are no plans for the next few days. There is nothing in the schedule for now."

Peskov said Dmitriev's visit was a cause for "cautious optimism", however. He also echoed Dmitriev's comments that Russia could engage in talks around security guarantees for Ukraine, although he said the subject was very complex.

The two sides have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy over Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January, promising a quick end to the conflict and a restoration of ties with Russia.

But Russia this week said it could not accept US proposals on Ukraine, "in their current form", because they did not address core issues that Moscow says are at the root of the conflict.

Trump previously said he was "pissed off" with Putin due to remarks he had made about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Trump has spoken of imposing sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking a peace deal on Ukraine. In an announcement of global tariffs on Thursday he did include Russia, which is already heavily sanctioned.