Guantanamo still holds 229 detainees

According to a Pentagon report, about 100 Yemenis constitute the largest national group of the so-called terror suspects held in the notorious military prison followed by Afghans and Algerians, with about 20 from each country.

In addition, almost 10 Saudi detainees and 13 Chinese Muslim ethnic Uighurs remain at the detention center in the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba.

There are between five and 10 prisoners each from Libya, Pakistan, Syria and Tunisia, according to the Pentagon figures.

The rest of the detainees are from Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

The White House is confident that it will fulfill President Barack Obama's promise to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January next year.

Since Obama took office in January, a Tanzanian was transferred to the US to face trial before a federal court, a British resident of Ethiopian origin was returned to the UK and four Chinese Uighurs were sent to Bermuda.

A young Chadian-Saudi detainee was also sent to Chad while an Iraqi and three Saudi nationals were sent to their home countries.

Recent polls showed that most Americans oppose Gitmo's closure, fearing that the detainees could be moved to US soil after the shutdown of the Cuban-based military detention facility.