Status: 03/09/2023 03:32 a.m
The US has transferred another inmate from the Guantanamo detention center. Ghassan al Sharbi was taken to his home country of Saudi Arabia. He is considered a loyal supporter and collaborator of the Al Qaeda terrorist group.
Another prisoner has been released from the US Guantanamo prison camp. Ghassan al-Sharbi was taken to his home country of Saudi Arabia, US military officials said.
According to US information, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he fled to Pakistan for bomb-making training, where he was arrested the following year. He is said to have been tortured in detention and was later sent to Guantanamo.
US investigators described al-Sharbi as a loyal supporter of the al-Qaeda terrorist group and a collaborator. He was also mentioned in a memo written months before the 9/11 attacks by an FBI agent in Phoenix and received little attention at the time: Al Sharbi was among students with Middle Eastern roots residing in the Arizona city It said that they had taken flight lessons for the purpose of attacks.
17 other inmates have the green light to be transferred
With al Scharbi’s release, 31 inmates are still in the detention center at the Guantánamo Bay naval base in Cuba – including 17 for whom the green light has already been given for release, provided a stable third country that is willing to take them in can be found.
Under the then US President George W. Bush, the prison camp was created for suspected extremists who were specifically arrested after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. At the peak of the detentions in 2003, around 600 people were being held at Guantánamo who the US classified as terrorists.
Proponents praised the use of the facility for this purpose as a tried and tested means that prevented attacks. Critics said the US military and courts had undermined human and fundamental rights and damaged America’s image abroad.