People in Yemen have taken to the streets in the capital, Sana’a, to protest against the detention of dozens of Yemeni nationals in the US-run Guantanamo Prison

People in Yemen have taken to the streets in the capital, Sana’a, to protest against the detention of dozens of Yemeni nationals in the US-run Guantanamo Prison.

Yemeni protesters gathered outside the residence of Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in the capital on Friday, demanding the release of Yemeni detainees held in the notorious prison.

Among the protesters was Abdulelah Haider Shaye, a former Guantanamo inmate who was freed last month following three years of detention in the prison.

The event comes a day after Hadi held talks with US senators in Washington to persuade them to release the Yemeni inmates held at the US-run prison in Cuba. He also met with President Barack Obama.

On June 26, Yemenis staged a similar demonstration in front of the US Embassy in Sana’a, calling on Obama to release Yemeni prisoners.

In May, the US president pledged to lift a ban on repatriating the Yemeni inmates of the notorious prison.

A majority of the prisoners at Guantanamo have been on hunger strike for almost six months protesting their indefinite detention.

The Guantanamo prison was initially established on January 11, 2002 by former US President George W. Bush to hold suspects captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Obama famously promised in early 2009 to close the prison within 12 months, but four years on, the controversial prison remains open. He has put the blame on Congress for his failure to make good on his promise.