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epa03748732 Yemeni protesters dressed in orange prison uniforms take part in a rally demanding the release of Yemeni detainees from the US-run Guantanamo detention center, outside the US embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, 17 June 2013. Yemeni and American activists and relatives of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees staged the rally outside the US embassy in Sana'a to demand the release of Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo detention center, a few days after the US House of Representatives voted to restrict transfer of 65 Yemeni Guantanamo detainees to their homes. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB Image Credit: EPA

SANA’A, Yemen: Yemeni and American rights protesters have staged a demonstration in front of the US Embassy in Sana’a, demanding the release of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees.

Mohammad Nagi of Yemen-based National Organisation For Defending Rights and Freedom known as Hood says activists are demanding that President Barack Obama enforce his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer 68 detainees home, including 56 Yemenis. Seven American activists joined the rally on Monday. Protesters dressed in orange clothes, similar to detainees’ uniforms.

The protest comes after Obama chose a Washington lawyer to act as the State Department’s special envoy for closing the military-run detention centre. A hunger strike by more than 100 of 166 detainees protesting their conditions and indefinite confinement has prompted fresh calls for the prison’s closure.