Uruguay has accepted six men detained at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for 12 years. Although the six are suspected to having ties with al-Qaeda, they have never been charged. Since 2010, they were cleared for release, but the six could not be sent back to their home countries and it was difficult to find another nation willing to take them in.

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Pentagon confirmed that the six arrived on Sunday in Uruguay where they were accepted as refugees.

Fox News identified the six as 43-year-old Abu Wa'el Dhiab, 32-year-old Ali Husain Shaaban, 37-year-old Ahmed Adnan Ajuri and 39-year-old Abdelahdi Faraj from Syria, 35-year-old Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan from Pakistan and 49-year-old Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi from Tunisia.

With their release, Guantanamo inmates are down to 136, the lowest since the detention facility opened in January 2002. Upon assuming office, U.S. President Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo for good, but Congress made restrictions on sending prisoners abroad as well as accepting prisoners to the U.S.

But Congress eventually eased the restrictions which led to the sending of two detainees each from Guantanamo to Bermuda in 2009 and El Salvador in 2012.

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica had agreed to take in the six in January, but the transfer was delayed due to Pentagon's failure to inform Congress of the move until in July, which was further postponed because of Uruguay's election in October. The delay caused a hunger strike that involved up to 100 prisoners, including Faraj and Dhiab.

U.S. State Department representative Clifford Sloan thanked Uruguay for its humanitarian move to accept the six prisoners.

Mujica's soft spot for detainees is because he suffered harsh prison conditions for more than 10 years when the military controlled the South American nation in the 1970s and 1980s. However, not all Uruguayans are happy with the arrival of the six men. An October poll said 58 percent of residents are against taking in the six.

TagsGuantanamo Bay, uruguay, Al-qaeda