[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] announced Thursday that Spain has agreed to resettle four detainees [press release] from the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detention facility. The four detainees are in addition to a Palestinian detainee transferred to Spain [JURIST report] earlier this year. The governments have yet to decide which detainees will be transferred. Holder met with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [official profile] during his visit to Spain to discuss issues of counter-terrorism and combating international organized crime. Holder also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Prosecutor General Conde-Pumpido to strengthen the ability of law enforcement officials to work cooperatively within each others' countries.

In February, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos [official profile] initially agreed to accept five detainees after the government had previously agreed to accept only two detainees [JURIST reports], one Yemeni and one Palestinian, in response to a June request [AFP report] by the Obama administration. Moratinos indicated [El Pais report, in Spanish] that Spain was willing to increase the number of detainees accepted in order to help remedy what it sees as an unacceptable situation at the detention facility. Spain joins a growing list of countries that have recently accepted transfers, including Latvia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Palau , Bermuda, Albania, and Somaliland [JURIST reports].