US releases Saudi Guantanamo detainee after 21 years

[villageidiot]

The United States on Wednesday announced the release from the Guantanamo military prison of a Saudi engineer seized over two decades ago as a suspect in the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks but never charged.

Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan with an Al-Qaeda associate in March 2002. He was targeted because he had studied at an aeronautical university in Arizona and had attended flight school with two of the Al-Qaeda highjackers in the 9/11 plot.

The US military had weighed charges against Sharbi and several others but dropped them in 2008.






Yet it continued to hold him as an enemy combatant in the military prison in the US Navy’s base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and his status remained in limbo — he was never charged but not approved for release, either.

But in February 2022, the Pentagon’s Periodic Review Board, which deals with Guantanamo release petitions, ruled that the native of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia could be released.

It said he had no leadership or facilitator position in Al-Qaeda, and was compliant in detention — after he was years earlier viewed as a hostile prisoner.






It also said he had unspecified “physical and mental health issues”.

The 2022 decision indicated he could enter into Saudi Arabia’s longstanding rehabilitation program for radical jihadists, which seeks to slowly change their viewpoint while ensuring they will be monitored as they return to society.

The review board said in a statement on Wednesday that it recommended Sharbi be transferred to Saudi custody “subject to the implementation of a comprehensive set of security measures including monitoring, travel restrictions and continued information sharing”.

With Sharbi’s release, 31 detainees remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800.

Of them, 17 are eligible for transfer and the Pentagon and State Department are seeking countries to accept them.

Another three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board review, while nine are facing charges under military commissions and two have been convicted in such commissions.

 

[Corruptistan]

So was he a genuine terrorist or just another one out of many innocent people send to Guantanamo and later released without any conviction?

Apparently the guy above. Does not strike me as a terrorist. Well-educated too.

If he was a threat and committed crimes, why was he suddenly freed? Makes no sense.

From what I have read, most of those that spent time at Guantanamo were proven to be innocent people and were never convicted of anything.

 

[PakFactor]

So was he a genuine terrorist or just another one out of many innocent people send to Guantanamo and later released without any conviction?

Apparently the guy above. Does not strike me as a terrorist. Well-educated too.

If he was a threat and committed crimes, why was he suddenly freed? Makes no sense.

From what I have read, most of those that spent time at Guantanamo were proven to be innocent people and were never convicted of anything.

The main thing is, where's the compensation for illegally holding someone without due process?
If this were a white m*therfucker, he would have been paid millions by now.

 

[Corruptistan]

The main thing is, where's the compensation for illegally holding someone without due process?
If this were a white m*therfucker, he would have been paid millions by now.

No idea, not a lawyer but what strikes me is that Westerners were held for years without any judgement as well. At least people with Western passports. A few Muslim converts spent time as well.

Not sure if some received any compensation, I recall once reading about that, but when you are the world sheriff, you make the laws and they follow you, not the other way around.

I guess this was the American logic post 9/11 where they were pissed off and had to show their people that they "meant business". Of course it turned out that their Afghanistan and Iraq adventures were large fiascos overall in terms of long-term goals.

 

[epebble]

So was he a genuine terrorist or just another one out of many innocent people send to Guantanamo and later released without any conviction?

Apparently the guy above. Does not strike me as a terrorist. Well-educated too.

If he was a threat and committed crimes, why was he suddenly freed? Makes no sense.

From what I have read, most of those that spent time at Guantanamo were proven to be innocent people and were never convicted of anything.

Was this man a terrorist? Any compensation for him?

 

[Corruptistan]

Was this man a terrorist? Any compensation for him?

Is the topic Guantanamo or Khashoggi? Your usual KSA-obsession at play here or what is the matter with the whataboutism? Are you somehow trying to proof that KSA has skeletons as well and that the KSA regime has committed mistakes and crimes like every other country (pales in comparison to the US in question though but that is besides the point here)? If that is the case, you are beating a dead horse or stating the obvious. Carry on.

 

[epebble]

Is the topic Guantanamo or Khashoggi? Your usual KSA-obsession at play here or what is the matter with the whataboutism? Are you somehow trying to proof that KSA has skeletons as well and that the KSA regime has committed mistakes and crimes like every other country (pales in comparison to the US in question though but that is besides the point here)? If that is the case, you are beating a dead horse or stating the obvious. Carry on.

You seem to have a soft corner for this man:

Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan with an Al-Qaeda associate in March 2002. He was targeted because he had studied at an aeronautical university in Arizona and had attended flight school with two of the Al-Qaeda highjackers in the 9/11 plot.

So, I was curious what you think of a writer for a major newspaper who does not get to go home unlike the other man.

 

[Corruptistan]

You seem to have a soft corner for this man:

Ghassan Al Sharbi, 48, was detained in Faisalabad, Pakistan with an Al-Qaeda associate in March 2002. He was targeted because he had studied at an aeronautical university in Arizona and had attended flight school with two of the Al-Qaeda highjackers in the 9/11 plot.

So, I was curious what you think of a writer for a major newspaper who does not get to go home unlike the other man.

What soft spot? I don't know the guy nor the case, hence my initial post.

Also if he was what they claimed he is, why was he never convicted in a court of law (US court) and why is he released now as a free and un-convicted man?

When you add the above together with the fact that most Guantanamo inmates (or at least many) were proven to be innocent and very few were even convicted in the first place, it is natural to ask why an engineer would be what they accused him of being.

I don't know, maybe you don't engage in critical thinking etc. but I tend to do for the most part. Or at least I try to do.

Most importantly, US claims in this regard, of who is what, who was arrested with whom, have also been disproven on numerous occasions, so I would not necessarily claim news articles as facts. Even more so when said people in question were never convicted in a court of law.

 

[epebble]

What soft spot? I don't know the guy nor the case, hence my initial post.

Also if he was what they claimed he is, why was he never convicted in a court of law (US court) and why is he released now as a free and un-convicted man?

When you add the above together with the fact that most Guantanamo inmates (or at least many) were proven to be innocent and very few were even convicted in the first place, it is natural to ask why an engineer would be what they accused him of being.

I don't know, maybe you don't engage in critical thinking etc. but I tend to do for the most part. Or at least I try to do.

There is a HUGE difference between innocence and being convicted beyond reasonable doubt. Most of those let go from Gitmo are not pure as driven snow as some might think. Many were captured with less than legal methods during war and putting on trial would disclose too many details the government does not want to disclose. But just common sense: Why would a Saudi 'engineer' hang around with Al Queda men in Pakistan? Why would he get a quicky flight training with fellow Al Queda members? Lack of conviction doesn't mean he was innocent. Bin Laden was also not tried and convicted.

 

[jamal18]

So was he a genuine terrorist or just another one out of many innocent people send to Guantanamo and later released without any conviction?

Apparently the guy above. Does not strike me as a terrorist. Well-educated too.

If he was a threat and committed crimes, why was he suddenly freed? Makes no sense.

From what I have read, most of those that spent time at Guantanamo were proven to be innocent people and were never convicted of anything.

The American definition of a terrorist is anyone who fights against the US.

Not my definition.

 

[Corruptistan]

There is a HUGE difference between innocence and being convicted beyond reasonable doubt. Most of those let go from Gitmo are not pure as driven snow as some might think. Many were captured with less than legal methods during war and putting on trial would disclose too many details the government does not want to disclose. But just common sense: Why would a Saudi 'engineer' hang around with Al Queda men in Pakistan? Why would he get a quicky flight training with fellow Al Queda members? Lack of conviction doesn't mean he was innocent. Bin Laden was also not tried and convicted.

Never claimed that they were pure but for supposedly being accused (almost all them) of being AQ members, surprisingly few were convicted and let alone spend much time in Guantanamo. Add the other well-known ground realities and it is natural to be sceptic and wonder whether this was another case of an innocent man being at the wrong place, with the wrong person at the wrong time. If the official story is even accurate, we won't know.

The news are all saying that he was an engineer by education.

Says who? The official story? Pre-9/11 there were 1000's of Arabs in Pakistan, I would assume less than a small portion of those had any ties to AQ. The few that did, I doubt that they were working around with a stick on their heads that said AQ when interacting with fellow Arabs or locals otherwise.

The ObL comparison makes no sense in this case.

But anyway, I don't care about this news, I was just surprised by the thread title as I thought that Guantanamo was closed long ago and most of the inmates were either convicted or freed.

Probably 10 years ago I last read about Guantanamo.

The American definition of a terrorist is anyone who fights against the US.

Not my definition.

Well, I don't disagree, but in this case, if he had any ties to AQ, I have to disagree with you on your take. In fact I would prefer if they locked him away for good.

 

[epebble]

I was just surprised by the thread title as I thought that Guantanamo was closed long ago and most of the inmates were either convicted or freed.

Wait, there is another surprise. A big part of closing down Gitmo is some of the inmates being let go are NOT wanted by their countries! Now, if they were innocent, you would think they would be welcome as heroes escaping wrongful detention. But not so. U.S. has to find a third country willing to take that person after a great deal of arm twisting and cajoling. It almost sounds funny, but it is not. Yes, that includes Pakistan. For example, look at this recent story of Majid Khan. He had to be rehabilitated in the tiny country of Belize.

Freed Former C.I.A. Prisoner Has Big Dreams for a New Life in Belize

Majid Khan, a “high-value detainee” at Guantánamo Bay, was released last week after two decades of social isolation.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Corruptistan]

Wait, there is another surprise. A big part of closing down Gitmo is some of the inmates being let go are NOT wanted by their countries! Now, if they were innocent, you would think they would be welcome as heroes escaping wrongful detention. But not so. U.S. has to find a third country willing to take that person after a great deal of arm twisting and cajoling. It almost sounds funny, but it is not. Yes, that includes Pakistan. For example, look at this recent story of Majid Khan. He had to be rehabilitated in the tiny country of Belize.

Freed Former C.I.A. Prisoner Has Big Dreams for a New Life in Belize

Majid Khan, a “high-value detainee” at Guantánamo Bay, was released last week after two decades of social isolation.

www.nytimes.com

And who can blame them when said people were treated (all of them) as guilty even when later proven to be innocent and never convicted? Which state wants to take a risk of a potential AQ/terrorist when you can avoid the risk entirely?

Even more so when most of the host countries from what I recall where countries not of their origin.

So nothing that you write is surprising.

This is why people who have once been accused of horrible crimes, and later proven innocent, many are already treated as if guilty and the rumor is already out.

Look no further than men who are accused of rape etc. and later proven innocent.

So I don't buy that argument entirely at all.

Anyway what is strange is that you find it normal to keep people in solidarity confinement for 20 + years without a conviction. This is the real crime in question here, not whether they are guilty or not because if guilty they will be sentenced by the law in question.

Nobody deserves to be kept in solitary confinement for 20 + years without a conviction.

Which is why Western law experts, from what I recall, have been criticizing Guantanamo since the beginning. Even many in the US which is why Obama and others talked about closing it ages ago.

 

[epebble]

And who can blame them when said people were treated (all of them) as guilty even when later proven to be innocent and never convicted? Which state wants to take a risk of a potential AQ/terrorist when you can avoid the risk entirely?

Even more so when most of the host countries from what I recall where countries not of their origin.

So nothing that you write is surprising.

This is why people who have once been accused of horrible crimes, and later proven innocent, many are already treated as if guilty and the rumor is already out.

Look no further than men who are accused of rape etc. and later proven innocent.

So I don't buy that argument entirely at all.

Anyway what is strange is that you find it normal to keep people in solidarity confinement for 20 + years without a conviction. This is the real crime in question here, not whether they are guilty or not because if guilty they will be sentenced by the law in question.

Nobody deserves to be kept in solitary confinement for 20 + years without a conviction.

Which is why Western law experts, from what I recall, have been criticizing Guantanamo since the beginning. Even many in the US which is why Obama and others talked about closing it ages ago.

Nobody supports Gitmo. It was meant to be an emergency war time temporary measure like a POW camp. It just became a hot potato after the war due all sorts of things that went wrong. Biggest problem now is finding countries that take those persons. If everybody could be given a ride home on a plane, Gitmo would have been closed 10 years back.

 

[villageidiot]

Was this man a terrorist? Any compensation for him?

Bhaag bsdk, gangu