After 14 years in custody, a man from Yemen accused of being one of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards has been released from Guantanamo Bay, The Independent reported.
The U.S. cleared Abdel Malik Wahab al-Rahabi for release in March 2014. However, it did not send him back to Yemen because the country has an ongoing civil war. Al-Rahabi has been sent back to a small Balkan state, Montenegro, for resettlement. Al-Rahabi has been at Gitmo since it opened in 2002, CBS News reported.
Lee Wolosky, the special envoy for Guantanamo closure at the State Department, said the U.S. is grateful to Montenegro for accepting al-Rahabi.
He said, “Montenegro now joins other U.S. friends and allies in Europe in accepting multiple detainees for resettlement, bringing us closer to our shared goal of closing the facility.”
A profile released from the Pentagon claimed that al-Rahabi traveled from Yemen to Afghanistan frequently and that he was “almost certainly” a member of al-Qaeda. Despite this information, U.S. authorities decided he did not pose a security threat and could be released, The Independent reported.
At its highest count, Gitmo held some 680 prisoners, most of whom were linked to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Currently there are 79 inmates in the prison.
To find out how many prisoners freed from Gitmo returned to terror, click here.
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