The Obama Administration believes that Saudi Arabia is the ideal place to send dozens of Yeminis being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, according to a Washington Post article.

Obama’s promise to close the prison by January is being hampered in part by the fate of 97 Yemini detainees – viewed as among the most radical – who remain there.

U.S. officials have been applying pressure on Saudi Arabia to take the prisoners into their terrorist rehabilitation program, as Yemen is not viewed as a secure enough to repatriate the prisoners. But Saudi officials, in fear of becoming a greater al-Qaeda target, are not keen to take on the prisoners, according to The Post. They also say the Yeminis are not right for the program because it relies on close family ties.

The controversial Saudi program attempts to rehabilitate terrorists and integrate them back into everyday life through a combination of religious, psychological and social programs. NOW traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier this year for an inside look at the controversial program.

Lynne Stewart was sent to prison this week, after an appeals court upheld her conviction in a 2005 terrorism case.

Stewart, 70, began serving a 28-month sentence for smuggling out messages from her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. He is serving a life sentence for plotting to bomb a number of targets in New York City.

In 2006, NOW’s Maria Hinojosa spoke to Stewart about her conviction. The ex-lawyer said she would still defend Rahman if she had the chance to do it all over again.

According to ABC News, two of the masterminds behind the attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas day were former Guantanamo Bay detainees freed in 2007 who then attended a terror rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia.

After being released from the program, the former prisoners are believed to have moved to Yemen where they joined al Qaeda as military commanders.

"The so-called rehabilitation programs are a joke," a U.S. diplomat said in describing the Saudi efforts with released Guantanamo detainees.

The controversial Saudi program attempts to rehabilitate terrorists and integrate them back into everyday life through a combination of religious, psychological and social programs. NOW on PBS traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier this year for an inside, in-depth look at the controversial initiative.