Washington: Guantanamo Bay inmate Sufiyan Barhoumi, who spent nearly 20 years at the detention facility, had finally been repatriated to Algeria, according to US officials.
According to BBC, Barhoumi was captured at a safehouse in Pakistan with a top al-Qaeda member in 2002, and accused of taking part in a plan to bomb the US.
On Saturday, the US Department of Defense said his detention was no longer needed and the Algerian government has assured that he would be treated humanely.
The department said, “On August 9, 2016, the Periodic Review Board process determined that law of war detention of Barhoumi was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States. Therefore, the PRB recommended that Barhoumi be repatriated to his native country of Algeria, subject to security and humane treatment assurances.”
However, the Algerian government has not issued any official statement. With the latest release, 37 detainees remain — including 18 eligible for transfer — at Guantanamo Bay, which is part of a US naval base complex in south-eastern Cuba, BBC reported.Â
