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The oldest prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay has been released and returned to Pakistan, according to the foreign ministry in Islamabad and the US Department of Defense (DOD).
- Saifullah Paracha has returned to Pakistan after more than 17 years in custody in Cuba
- He was held on suspicion of ties to Al Qaeda, but never charged
- The US Department of Defense said 35 detainees remained at Guantanamo Bay, with 20 eligible for transfer
Saifullah Paracha, 75, was reunited with his family on Saturday after more than 17 years in custody at the detention centre in Cuba.
Mr Paracha had been held on suspicion of ties to Al Qaeda since 2003, but was never charged with a crime.
Last year, he was told he had been approved for release.
He was cleared by the prisoner review board, along with two other men in November 2020.
Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, who represented him at his hearing, said the notification did not provide detailed reasoning for the decision as is customary.
She said it concluded only that Mr Paracha was "not a continuing threat" to the US.
The DOD said in a statement that the US appreciated "the willingness of Pakistan and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility".
The department said 35 detainees remained at Guantanamo Bay as of Saturday, with 20 of them eligible for transfer.
In Pakistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had completed an extensive inter-agency process to facilitate Mr Paracha's repatriation.
"We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family," the ministry said.
Mr Paracha, who lived in the United States and owned property in New York City, was a wealthy businessman in Pakistan.
Authorities alleged he was an Al Qaeda "facilitator" who helped two of the conspirators in the September 11 plot with a financial transaction.
He has maintained that he did not know they were Al Qaeda and denied any involvement in terrorism.
The US captured Mr Paracha in Thailand in 2003 and held him at Guantanamo since September 2004.
The US has long asserted that it can hold detainees indefinitely without charge under the international laws of war.
In November 2020, Mr Paracha, who suffers from a number of ailments, including diabetes and a heart condition, made his eighth appearance before the review board.
The board was established under former US president Barack Obama to try to prevent the release of prisoners who authorities believed might engage in anti-US hostilities upon their release from Guantanamo.
At the time, his attorney, Ms Sullivan-Bennis, said she was more optimistic about his prospects because of President Joe Biden's election Mr Paracha's ill health and developments in a legal case involving his son Uzair Paracha.
His son was convicted in 2005 in New York of providing support to terrorism, based in part on testimony from the same witnesses held at Guantanamo who the US relied on to justify holding the father.
In March 2020, after a judge threw out those witness accounts and the government decided not to seek a new trial, Mr Paracha's son was released and sent back to Pakistan.
AP