President Barack Obama says he remains committed to closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, AP reported.
Obama's renewed pledge Tuesday to shutter the controversial prison came as he also said there were no plans to transfer any more detainees from Guantanamo to Yemen for the time being.
Nearly half of the 198 detainees who are left at Guantanamo are from Yemen.
The man charged with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day met with extremists in Yemen before he allegedly tried to carry out his attack - heightening concerns about terrorists in the African nation.
Obama says the U.S. has been confronting the ongoing security situation in Yemen for some time.