Six Guantanamo Bay inmates were transferred to Uruguay to be resettled as refugees, the largest single group to be sent from the controversial detention center since 2009. The Defense Department announced the transfer early Sunday morning, though the deal has been known publicly for months. The group of six includes Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a Syrian man whose hunger strikes launched a national debate and high-profile lawsuit against the military's force-feeding protocols. President Obama said in 2013 that he would continue to push to shut down Guantanamo Bay and transfer inmates, but had been moving slowly until the 2014 midterm elections were over. From the start of his second term through October, only one detainee was transferred. Since November, 12 have been transferred. The deal with Uruguay was settled in March, though Obama adminidtration officials complained that outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was slow to make the transfer official.
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