An engineer captured after the attacks of September 11, 2001, but never formally charged, has been released from Guantanamo prison and returned to Saudi Arabia, the United States announced on Wednesday March 8.
Ghassan Abdullah Al-Sharbi, 48, was arrested in Faisalabad, Pakistan with another al-Qaeda member in March 2002. He studied aeronautics at a university in Arizona and flew alongside two of the hijackers. the air of Al-Qaeda 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 before considered free.
Rehabilitation program
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 also said he suffered from “physical and mental problems”, without specifying their nature. The report said 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. A total of nine men still detained at Guantanamo are facing charges, and two have been convicted in military court.
