Biden releases another Guantanamo detainee – this one transferred to Algeria – By Karen Townsend (Hot Air) / Apr 21 2023
Then there were 30. Joe Biden wants to empty Guantanamo Bay and so far he is quietly making some progress. On Thursday, the Biden administration announced that Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush was transferred to Algeria. He is the tenth detainee to be released during Biden’s term in office, leaving 30 at the facility. He was captured in 2002 in a raid on an al-Qaeda hideout in Pakistan. After 20 years and at the age of 72, Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush is no longer considered to be a threat.
He was allegedly an associate of two senior members of al-Qaeda and attended one of its training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s. He is an Algerian national who became an instructor. He was accused of being part of a plot to attack the United States. He was released after a review board determined he was no longer a threat. Bin Umran Bakush will face security measures, such as monitoring, travel restrictions, and information-sharing.
Guantanamo Bay was set up by the George W. Bush administration in 2002 as part of the War on Terror against al-Qaeda and other terror groups after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Detainees were designated as enemy combatants. Sixteen of the remaining detainees are eligible for transfers, and three are eligible for a periodic review board, according to the Department of Defense. Nine detainees are involved in ongoing military trials. Two have been convicted. That accounts for the thirty that remain at GTMO.
