2 Guantanamo prisoners sent to Sudan

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The U.S. military has sent two prisoners from Guantanamo Bay back to their native Sudan in the third release this month.

A Pentagon statement issued Wednesday says the release of Noor Uthman Muhammed and Ibrahim Idris brings the prison population at the U.S. base in Cuba to 158.

The Sudanese government had said the release was expected this week.

Muhammed pleaded guilty in February 2011 to terrorism offenses in a plea deal that spared him the possibility of a life sentence. He was sentenced to 14 years with all but 34 months suspended.

Idris is mentally ill and has spent much of his 11 years at Guantanamo in psychiatric treatment. A federal judge ordered his release after the U.S. dropped its opposition in October.