WASHINGTON, April 29: The US military has cleared as many as 85 Guantanamo prisoners for release but they are still at the prison camp because they have no where to go, the US media reported on Sunday.

Since February, the Pentagon has cleared 85 inmates for release but only three have gone home. Eighty-two remain at Guantanamo as US officials try to find a country that would accept them. In many cases, the prisoners' countries do not want them back. Yemen, for instance, has refused to accept some of the 106 Yemeni nationals at Guantanamo.

Besides, US laws prevent the deportation of people to countries where they could face torture or other human rights abuses. Virtually, all the prisoners at Guantanamo come from countries that the State Department has cited for records of human rights abuses.

There are 17 Chinese Muslim separatists who have been cleared for release but fear they could be executed for political reasons if returned to China.

Compounding the problem are persistent refusals by the United States, its European allies and other countries to grant asylum to prisoners who are stateless or have no place to go.

Some prisoner advocates said that the Bush administration has made its task more difficult by exaggerating the threat posed by most Guantanamo inmates.

The 82 cleared prisoners who remain stuck in limbo come from 16 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The 17 Chinese Muslim separatists make up the largest contingent. Other countries with multiple prisoners awaiting release include Afghanistan, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Yemen.