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The island of Socotra lies in the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and has been described as the most alien-looking place on earth.

It is home to about 800 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, a third of which do not exist anywhere else on earth, and many of its 44,000 inhabitants speak an ancient, unwritten language of pre-Islamic origin.

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But there are fears the Yemeni island of rugged beauty could become a new Guantanamo Bay jail.

Amid renewed American promises to close down the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, there is speculation that Socotra could host a new prison facility for Yemenis after they are released from the U.S.-run jail.

Eighty-seven Yemeni nationals are still being held out of a total of 166 prisoners in Guantanamo, 56 of whom have been recommended for release by a United States Justice Department task force. All of the Yemeni detainees have been held without trial for the past 12 years. More than five years ago, President Barack Obama issued an order to close the Guantanamo, but it has yet to be carried out.