The US Department of Justice announced Dec. 9 that Kuwaiti Guantánamo Bay detainee Fouad al-Rabiah has been transferred to the control of the Kuwaiti government. Al-Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national, had been held at Guantánamo Bay for nearly eight years under suspicion of aiding al Qaeda and the Taliban. The transfer came after a judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in September granted al-Rabiah’s habeas corpus petition and ordered his release. According to the DoJ, the “transfer was carried out under an arrangement between the United States and the government of Kuwait. The United States will continue to consult with the government of Kuwait regarding this individual.”
Al Rabiah was one of three Kuwaiti nationals remaining at Guantánamo out of 12 who were detained there. In October, the DoJ announced that Kuwaiti Guantánamo detainee Khaled Al-Mutairi had been returned to his home country. The US government alleged that al-Mutairi had fought against US troops in Afghanistan, but in his almost eight years at the facility, no charges were ever filed. Al-Mutairi’s release was ordered by federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the DC District Court when she granted his petition for habeas corpus in July. In September, Kollar-Kotelly denied the petition of Kuwaiti detainee Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, who admitted to traveling to Afghanistan to meet with the Taliban. The other Kuwaiti remaining at Guantánamo is Fayiz al-Kandari, who allegedly trained with al-Qaeda. (Jurist, Dec. 10)
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