Those transferred "included 29 to the control of Pakistan for continued detention and six to Pakistan for release. This transfer increases the number of detainees who have departed GTMO to 191," a Pentagon statement 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 the detainee is believed to pose a threat to the United States if released," the statement explained.

It noted that "the process of evaluation and detention is not free of risk - at least five

detainees have gone back to the fight." No further details were immediately given.

"During the course of the war on terrorism, the department expects that there will be other transfers or releases of detainees," the statement stressed.

According to the department, previously, "129 detainees were transferred for release and 27 others were transferred to the control of other governments (five to Morocco, four to France, seven to Russia, four to Saudi Arabia, one to Spain, one to Sweden and five to Britain)."

"As a result of (Saturday's) transfer, there are now approximately 550 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," the statement said.

In Islamabad, 34 Pakistanis and an Afghan released from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Islamabad late Saturday, Pakistani officials said.

"There are 34 Pakistanis and an Afghan national who have returned here after their release from Guantanamo Bay," interior ministry spokesman brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP.

The group was detained by security officials upon their arrival for debriefing, he said.

The release, which comes on the eve of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's visit to the United States, was the largest since November 2002.

"It has been made possible due to persistent efforts by the government to secure the release of Pakistani prisoners held up in Guantanamo Bay," said Cheema, who led a three-member delegation to United States in April for release talks.

Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, and the United States agreed in March to screen Pakistani prisoners for their possible release from detention.

Thousands of Pakistanis were captured in Afghanistan following the ouster of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001.

Some 64 were transferred to the US naval detention center while hundreds of others were locked up in Afghan jails, officials said.

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