The transfer of Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi from the US Army prison in Cuba is the fourth in two weeks by the outgoing Biden administration.
The Pentagon has released a Tunisian detainee held in Guantanamo Bay since the first day the notorious prison camp opened in 2002 without ever being charged.
In a statement, the US Department of Defense said that Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi was repatriated from the United States military prison in Cuba to Tunisia on Monday.
It is the fourth transfer in two weeks by the outgoing Biden administration, which is seeking to reduce the military prison’s population, which stood at 40 prisoners when Biden took office in 2020. Al-Yazidi was “determined transfer-eligible by a rigorous interagency review process.”.
On January 31, 2024, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin notified Congress of his intent to support this repatriation. In consultation with our partner in Tunisia, we satisfied the requirements of responsible transfer,” the Pentagon explained.
Al-Yazidi, 59, was never charged with a crime by the US and was approved for transfer more than a decade ago, but no agreement with Tunisia’s government was made until now to bring him home.
Pakistani soldiers seized al-Yazidi near the border with Afghanistan in December 2001, and he was suspected of being an al-Qaeda fighter, The New York Times reported.
Twenty-six detainees are still at Guantanamo Bay, with 14 eligible for transfer, the statement said.
It added that three inmates are eligible for a periodic review of their status, seven are currently involved in the military commissions process, and two detainees have been convicted and sentenced.
Al-Yazidi was taken to the prison on January 11, 2002, when it opened its doors to detainees arrested during the US’s self-proclaimed “war on terror” following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
