(Reuters) – A person accused of being the would-be twentieth hijacker within the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults has been repatriated to Saudi Arabia after twenty years detained at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. Department of Defense mentioned on Monday.
Mohammad Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani, 46, was transferred to his native Saudi Arabia after a evaluate board decided in June that he not represented a major menace to U.S. nationwide safety, the Defense Department mentioned in a written assertion.
“The United States appreciates the willingness of Saudi Arabia and different companions to help ongoing U.S. efforts towards a deliberate and thorough course of centered on responsibly lowering the detainee inhabitants and in the end closing of the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the assertion mentioned.
According to a Guantanamo detainee profile maintained by the Defense Department, al-Qahtani was skilled by al-Quaeda and sought unsuccessfully to enter the United States on Aug. 4, 2001 to participate within the Sept. 11 assaults.
In all, 38 detainees stay at Guantanamo Bay. Of these, 19 are eligible for switch, 7 are eligible for a Periodic Review Board, 10 are concerned within the navy commissions course of and two detainees have been convicted in navy commissions.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; enhancing by Richard Pullin)
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