US releases two Malaysians from Guantanamo bay

The US Defense Department said Wednesday that it had repatriated two Malaysian men from its Guantanamo prison, leaving 27 still held at the American base in Cuba.

The two -- Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep -- had pled guilty "to multiple offenses, including murder in violation of the Law of War, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, conspiracy, and destruction of property in violation of the Law of War," the Defense Department said in a statement.

But they cooperated and provided testimony against the alleged mastermind of the 2002 attacks on nightclubs in Bali and the 2003 attack on a hotel in Jakarta, the department said.

Sentences of about five years in detention were approved for the men and it was "recommended that both men be repatriated or transferred to a third-party sovereign nation to serve the remainder of the approved sentence," it said.

With the announcement of their release -- which came a day after the Defense Department said a Kenyan national had been repatriated -- 27 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800.

Of them 15 are eligible for transfer, three are eligible for a review for possible release, seven are facing charges and two have been convicted and sentenced, the Defense Department said.

Outgoing President Joe Biden pledged before his election in 2020 to try to shut down Guantanamo, but it remains open with just over a month left in his term.