A detainee is released from Guantanamo and returned to Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday, March 8, the United States announced the release of an engineer who was arrested after the September 11, 2001 attacks, but never formally charged, from Guantanamo Bay and returned to Saudi Arabia.

Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharqi, 48, was arrested in Faisalabad, Pakistan, along with another al-Qaeda member in March 2002. He studied aviation at a university in Arizona and was flying along with two al-Qaeda hijackers in connection with 9/11. attacks.

The US Department of Defense (The Pentagon) had considered some of the accusations against Ghassan Abdullah Al-Sharbi, but abandoned the idea in 2008 while he was still being held as an enemy combatant in the prison of the Guantanamo military base on the island of Cuba. His status remained uncertain until 2022: he was never charged, but also not considered free until then.

Rehabilitation programme

In February 2022, a Pentagon committee that handles release requests ruled that the Saudi national, Jeddah, could be released because he did not hold a leadership position within the base and respected detention rules. Years ago, he was labeled an enemy prisoner.

The committee also declared that he suffers from “Physical and mental problems”without specifying its nature. The report concluded that he was fit to enter Saudi Arabia’s program to rehabilitate radical jihadists, the goal of which is to slowly change their views while ensuring they remain under surveillance as they return to civilian life.

The release of Ghassan Abdullah Al-Sharqi means that 31 detainees remain in Guantanamo. At its peak, the prison held nearly 800. Of those 31, 17 are eligible for transfer, while the Pentagon and the US State Department search for countries willing to accept them. Three others can request a review of their status before a Pentagon committee. There are also five men accused of the 9/11 attacks. Nine men still being held at Guantanamo face charges, and two have been convicted in a military court.