Saudi engineer imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay released after 21 years

Saudi engineer imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay released after 21 years!

Ghassan al Sharbi was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan in March 2002 as a suspect in the 9/11 attacks.

 Saudi Arabian engineer was imprisoned for more than 20 years at Guantanamo Bay military prison but was never charged.

The US Department of Defense in a statement on Wednesday said that Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was returned to Saudi Arabia after a review board determined in February 2022 that his detention “was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States”.

He was targeted because he had studied at an aeronautical university in Arizona and had attended flight school with two of the Al Qaeda highjackers in the 9/11 plot.

The US said Al Sharbi had fled to Pakistan after the September 11 attacks and had received training in bomb-making.

In 2022, the Pentagon’s Periodic Review Board ruled that Al Sharbi had no leadership or facilitator position in al-Qaeda and was compliant in detention.

It also said he had unspecified “physical and mental health issues”.

Camp Delta prison at the US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Guantanamo held about 600 prisoners at its peak in 2003 and still holds 31 detainees following the release of Saudi engineer Ghassan Al Sharbi.