The United States government releases a prisoner of Saudi Arabian terrorism case from Guantanamo Bay prison. Furthermore, the detainee who is a member of al-Qaeda will undergo the rest of his sentence for 13 years in prison in his home country.
The release of detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi was announced by the Pentagon. Darbi was listed as the first detainee released from Guantanamo prison since President Donald Trump came to power.
Darbi pleaded guilty in 2014 to an al-Qaeda bombing of a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen.
The Pentagon said Darbi, originally scheduled to return to his home country by February 20 as part of a plea deal, has now met the terms of the deal. According to the Pentagon, he abandoned his right to appeal.
Before being detained in 2002, Darbi worked for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, mastermind of the USS Cole tanker bombing. The October 2000 attack killed 17 US sailors when an explosives-laden ship hit a US Navy destroyer, USS Cole, in Aden harbor.
As part of the deal, Darbi testified about Nashiri's role in the attack on the USS Cole.
Meanwhile, Saudi security authorities confirmed that Darbi arrived in the country before midnight on Wednesday.
Darbi's release to be moved to prison in her home country kept the number of detainees in Guantanamo prison at 40. At its peak, the prison facility held 782 detainees.
The agreement to repatriate Darbi to Saudi was made under President Barack Obama's administration. The goal is to gradually reduce the Guantanamo prison population in the hope of eventually closing down the controversial detention center.
However, President Donald Trump reversed Obama's policy. He vowed to continue using the Guantanamo detention center, although no new prisoners have been entered there since Trump came to power.
In a separate statement, the US Department of Defense claimed to have sent the White House a set of proposed guidelines to send detainees to Guantanamo in the future.If the person presents a continuous and significant threat to As security, "reads one of the Pentagon's recommendations.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to provide details about the new policy.
Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the University of New York who has been with Darbi since 2008, said the transfer was the culmination of a long, painful 16-year detention.
"Although it may not make it whole, my hope is that repatriation at least marks the end of injustice for Ahmed," Kassem said, as quoted by Al Jazeera, last night (3/5/2018).
In a statement released by Kassem, Darbi thanked his family for their patience and love.
"Looking at what lies ahead, I feel a mixture of excitement, mistrust, and fear, I have never been a father, I have been here at Guantanamo, I have never held my son," he said.
He also criticized the existence of the controversial detention center. "My words will not be fair to what I have been going through these years and to the people I left behind in prison, no one has to remain at Guantanamo without trial, there is no justice in that," he said.