2 Guantanamo inmates transferred to Algeria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—The U.S. military has transferred two prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the custody of Algeria.

The Pentagon says the two men were cleared for release through a process of evaluating the threat posed by inmates at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. Tuesday's statement says about 260 detainees remain.

Buz Eisenberg is a lawyer for one of Algerians. He says his client Mohammed Al Qadir was held at Guantanamo since 2002 and is "quite happy" to be out of the military prison. A lawyer for the other released prisoner, Abdulli Feghoul, declined to comment.

The U.S. holds men suspected of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban at Guantanamo. More than 500 men have been released since the prison opened in January 2002.