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Former Guantanamo prisoners stroll streets of Uruguay, dine on kosher beef

Associated Press
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ADDS NAME OF FORMER PRISONER - Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi from Tunisia, former prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, holds an Uruguayan flag as he stands on a balcony in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. El Ouerghi is one of six prisoners who were held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay who arrived to Uruguay on Sunday as refugees amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison. (AP Photo/Ines Guimaraens, Diario El Observador) NOT FOR USE IN URUGUAY WEBSITES OR PUBLICATIONS - NO PUBLICAR EN URUGUAY (The Associated Press)

Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi from Tunisia, center, a former prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, exits a car carrying groceries accompanied by a member of PIT-CNT, one of Uruguay's workers unions, right, in a residential area of Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. Six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay began their new lives in Uruguay after the United States flew them to the South American country as refugees amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison. (AP Photo/Ines Guimaraens, Diario El Observador) URUGUAY OUT - NO USAR EN URUGUAY (The Associated Press)

CORRECTS ID OF MAN AT LEFT.- A former prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, right, stands drinking 'mate', a local herbal tea, on a balcony decorated with a flag of Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. The man is one of the six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay who arrived last Sunday as refugees in Uruguay amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison. Among those transferred was Abu Wa'el Dhiab, a 43-year-old Syrian on a long-term hunger strike protesting his confinement who was at the center of a legal battle in U.S. courts over the military's use of force-feeding. The Pentagon identified the other Syrians sent to Uruguay on Saturday as Ali Husain Shaaban, 32; Ahmed Adnan Ajuri, 37; and Abdelahdi Faraj, 33. Also released were Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan, 35, and 49-year-old Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi of Tunisia. The man at right is a member of PIT-CNT, one of Uruguay's workers union.(AP Photo/Ines Guimaraens/Diario El Observador) URUGUAY OUT - NOT FOR USE IN URUGUAY WEBSITES OR PUBLICATIONS (The Associated Press)

Six men freed this week after years of captivity at Guantanamo Bay have finally walked through a city in freedom, stopping to buy a bit of cheese and bread on a stroll through Uruguay's capital.

The men are staying at a Montevideo house as guests of a major labor union, which has been asked to help by President Jose Mujica.

Union executive secretary Gabriel Melgareo said Friday the six managed to elude journalists and went on a 6-mile (10-kilometer) walk through the city.

He says they have been euphoric and are making plans to bring their families. He says they've also started to take classes in Spanish.

Melgareo says the hosts tried to meet the men's Islamic dietary restrictions by buying beef from a kosher butcher.