Administration Backs Off Gitmo Transfers to Yemen

WASHINGTON - The United States will hold off for now transferring any more prisoners from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Yemen, the White House said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama has come under political pressure from some U.S. lawmakers not to send any more prisoners to Yemen as a result of revelations that a would-be bomber on a Detroit-bound plane had received al-Qaida training in Yemen.

"While we remain committed to closing the (Guantanamo) facility, a determination has been made right now — any additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.