Dhiab, captured in 2002, has been cleared for transfer since 2009.
The US now holds 116 men at Guantánamo, including 52 cleared for transfer or release.
About 90 prisoners have been cleared for transfer out of Guantánamo.
There are about 166 inmates at Guantánamo, of whom about half have been cleared for transfer or release.
Of nearly 80 prisoners at Guantánamo cleared for transfer or release, more than 50 are from Yemen.
By December, Hagel had approved nine more, mostly for detainees who had been cleared for transfer long before.
Two of the petitioners, Toufiq al-Bihani and Abdul Latif Nasser, have officially been cleared for transfer out of Guantánamo.
He also lifted a moratorium on sending home those from Yemen, the largest group cleared for transfer.
There are currently 91 detainees at Guantánamo Bay, including 35 cleared for transfer that the State Department expects to repatriate by the summer.
The 16 men were cleared for transfer by a "comprehensive" review process at Guantánamo that assesses detainees' threat level and intelligence value, said Cmdr.
The Obama administration has been negotiating actively with European and other governments to resettle 50 detainees, who it says are cleared for transfer.
