The Pentagon announced Friday the release of another detainee from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, marking the third transfer this week.
The prisoner, Faez Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari, 40, has been repatriated to Kuwait, the Pentagon said in a statement. He had been held at the prison facility for 14 years.
He was accused of serving as an al Qaeda recruiter and an adviser to Osama bin Laden, according to records published by The New York Times.
He was unanimously cleared for transfer by the Periodic Review Board after it determined he could safely be released without posing a threat to the U.S. He is the last Kuwaiti detainee to leave the facility.
Last month, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter notified Congress that 17 detainees would be transferred before the end of January, the largest number of transfers in a single month since 2007.
“The United States is grateful to the government of the state of Kuwait for its willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said in a news release. “The United States coordinated with the government of the state of Kuwait to ensure this transfer took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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