The Department of Defense, in a brief statement, did not identify the Swede or say where he was being transferred but detainees released previously have been sent to their home countries.

"The Department of Defense announced today that it transferred for release one detainee from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," the statement said. "This detainee came from the country of Sweden."

"Because of operational and security considerations, no further details can be provided," the statement said.

Only one Swede, Mehdi Ghezali, 25, is known to be held at Guantanamo but there was no immediate confirmation here that Ghezali was the detainee released on Tuesday.

The announcement came just days after Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said a Swede being held at Guantanamo Bay would soon be released. Persson met US President George W. Bush in Washington in April to push for Ghezali's release.

Ghezali has been a prisoner at Guantanamo since January 2002. He was captured in December 2001 in Pakistan near the Afghan border and turned over to the United States. His family has argued that he was in Pakistan to study at a Koranic school.

Most of the Guantanamo detainees were captured in Afghanistan as part of the "war on terrorism" declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

In its statement, the Pentagon said "the decision to transfer or release a detainee is based on many factors, including whether the detainee is of further intelligence value to the United States and whether he is believed to pose a threat to the United States or whether the individual has committed offenses triable by military commission.

"A determination about the detention and release of a detainee is based on the best information and evidence available at the time," the statement added.

The Pentagon said a total of 147 detainees have now left Guantanamo.

It said 134 detainees were transferred for release and 12 transferred for continued detention (four to the Saudi Arabian government, one to the Spanish government and seven to the Russian government).

"As a result of todays release, there are now approximately 594 detainees at Guantanamo Bay," the Pentagon said.

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