(Washington) The United States announced Wednesday evening of a new detainee from Guantanamo prison and the return to Saudi Arabia of an engineer captured after the attacks of September 11, 2001, but never formally charged.
Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi, 48, was arrested in Faisalabad, Pakistan with another member of Al-Qaeda in March 2002. He had studied aeronautics at a university in Arizona (western United States) and piloting in the alongside two of the A Qaeda hijackers in connection with the September 11 attacks.
The Pentagon had considered certain charges against Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi, but abandoned the idea in 2008, while continuing to hold him as an enemy combatant in the prison of the Guantanamo military base, on the Cuba island.
His status remained uncertain until last year: never charged, but also never considered to be released until then.
In February 2022, a Pentagon commission which handles requests for release, had decreed that this native of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia could be released, since he did not occupy a leadership position within Al-Qaeda, and respected detention rules. Years before, however, he had been labeled as a hostile prisoner.
The commission had also declared that he suffered from “physical and mental problems”, without specifying their nature.
His decision indicated he was fit to enter Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation program for radical jihadists, the aim of which is to slowly change their views while ensuring they remain monitored. in their return to civilian life.
The release of Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi means that 31 detainees remain at Guantanamo. At its peak, the prison had nearly 800.
Of those 31, 17 are eligible for transfer as the Pentagon and the US State Department seek countries willing to accept them. Three others are eligible for a review of their situation before the Pentagon commission.
There are also five men charged with the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington.
A total of nine men still detained at Guantanamo are facing charges, and two have been convicted in a military court.