Three Guantanamo Bay prisoners approved for release by high-level White House panel

Three prisoners held in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been approved for release by the Biden administration.

Pakistani man Saifullah Paracha, who at 73 is the oldest of the 40 prisoners still held at the prison; Abdul Rabbani, 54, also from Pakistan; and Uthman Abdul al-Rahim Uthman, 40, of Yemen, are set to be freed from the prison after a decision by a White House panel Monday, according to Agency France Press.

"Today is one hell of a day. Saifullah Paracha – 73, 17 years wrongfully imprisoned – is going HOME," his lawyer Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, tweeted Tuesday.

She also said the detainees could be released as early as 30 days from now, depending on arrangements for travel to their countries of destination.

The three were never formally charged with a crime, like most detained in Guantanamo. Paracha was one of the hundreds detained in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York.

Biden is expected to try to release all prisoners in the facility who have not been formally charged or connected to terror organizations like al Qaeda.