Guantanamo Bay: Oman receives 10 released inmates

President Obama has greatly reduced the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay

Oman says it has received 10 prisoners released from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The foreign ministry said it had responded to a request from the US and acted "out of consideration for the men's humanitarian situation".

The statement said the 10, whose nationalities were not revealed, would be offered temporary residency in Oman.

The move comes in the closing days of President Barack Obama's time in office.

He pledged to close the controversial detention centre during his election campaign in 2008.

Although he has been unable to do so, he has cut the number of inmates considerably.

The latest transfers mean there are now fewer than 50 detainees left in the centre, compared with 242 when Mr Obama succeeded George W Bush.

President-elect Donald Trump has called for all further releases to stop.

"To meet a request by the US government to assist in settling the issue of the detainees at Guantanamo, out of consideration of their humanitarian situation, 10 people released from that prison arrived in the Sultanate of Oman for a temporary residency," the foreign ministry statement said.

It did not disclose how long the men had been held.

Earlier this month, four Yemeni inmates were transferred to Saudi Arabia.