Sixteen Saudis released from the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have arrived in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi interior minister has said.
Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz commended the "co-operation" of US authorities in handing over the group, saying efforts were continuing to obtain the repatriation of Saudis held at the US naval base.
"The ongoing efforts of the authorities concerned ... resulted in the repatriation of 16 Saudi citizens who were held at Guantanamo Bay. They arrived in the kingdom on Thursday," Nayef said, quoted by the state SPA news agency.
At least 74 Saudis are still being held at the facility.
The latest handover brings to 53 the number of Saudis who have returned from Guantanamo. The bodies of two Saudi inmates, whom the US said committed suicide at the camp in June, were also repatriated.
More than 400 prisoners captured in the US-led war in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States are being detained without charge at Guantanamo.
Washington has denied authorising torture there, but has also defended the use of some controversial interrogation techniques in a bid to uncover terrorism plots.