Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi was captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks, but was never formally charged. He was released on Wednesday March 8.
By JLB with AFP
© SYLVIE LANTEAUME / AFP
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VSCreated after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Guantanamo detention center has become a symbol of human rights violations. Eager to close this infamous place before the end of his mandate, Joe Biden has started, since his election, a process of releasing the detainees. On Wednesday March 8, the United States announced the release of an engineer captured after the 2001 attacks.
Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi, 48, was arrested in Faisalabad, Pakistan, along with another al-Qaeda member, in March 2002. He studied aeronautics at a university in Arizona, west of the United States. United States, and piloting alongside two of the Al-Qaeda hijackers in connection with the September 11 attacks.
No strategic position
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 island of Cuba. His status remained uncertain until last year: never charged, but also never considered to be released until then.
In February 2022, a Pentagon commission that handles release requests ruled that the native of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, could be freed, since he did not hold a leadership position within Al-Qaeda and respected detention rules. Years before, however, he had been labeled as a hostile prisoner. The commission had, moreover, declared that he suffered from “physical and mental problems”, without specifying their nature.
His decision indicated 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.
Another 31 detainees at Guantanamo
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, while the Pentagon and the US State Department are looking for 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 in the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington.
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A total of nine men still detained at Guantanamo are facing charges, and two have been convicted in military court.