US transfers alleged al Qaeda bomb maker from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia

The United States moved a supposed al Qaeda bomb maker from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the Defense Department revealed Wednesday, part of the Biden administration’s continuous efforts to close the jail center.

Ghassan Al Sharbi, a 48-year-old Saudi local who has actually been kept in detention at Guantanamo Bay for twenty years, was sent out to Saudi Arabia after an evaluation board identified he no longer required to be held to safeguard versus a “continuing substantial hazard to the nationwide security of the United States,” the Defense Department stated. The transfer consisted of a set of security steps, consisting of tracking, travel constraints, and continued info sharing.

Al Sharbi went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States from 1999 to 2000, after which he took a trip to Afghanistan and started training with al Qaeda, according to federal government records. In Pakistan, he then found out to produce remote-controlled bombs, with the intent of mentor others the essential abilities, the records stated. He was caught in March 2002 and turned over to the United States right after.

His transfer to Saudi Arabia comes 2 weeks after the Defense Department repatriated 2 detainees to Pakistan, as the Biden administration attempts to decrease the variety of individuals held at Guantanamo Bay.

Abdul Rabbani and Mohammed Rabbani, who were never ever charged with a criminal activity, were held as detainees in the decadeslong war versus horror for apparently running safe homes utilized by al Qaeda members, consisting of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the implicated mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

There are presently 31 detainees staying at Guantanamo Bay, 17 of whom are qualified for transfer, according to the Defense Department.