The United States has transferred a prisoner at the Guantanamo detention facility to Belize, the US Department of Defense announced in a release on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2023) The United States has transferred a prisoner at the Guantanamo detention facility to Belize, the US Department of Defense announced in a release on Thursday.
"The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of Majid Khan from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Belize," the release said. "The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Belize and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility."
The Defense Department said in the release that Khan pleaded guilty before a military commission in February 2012, pledged to cooperate with the US government and honored his cooperation commitment.
Khan was sentenced in 2021 to a ten-year term of confinement and completed his sentence with credit for the years he spent cooperating with US personnel, the release said.
"On December 22, 2022, Secretary of Defense Austin notified Congress of his intent to transfer Majid Khan to the government of Belize, and, in consultation with Belize partners, we completed the requirements for responsible transfer," the release said.
Khan left the Guantanamo detention facility earlier on Thursday - the first prisoner to be transferred by the Biden administration - and has already arrived in Belize, media reported, citing US officials.
Khan is a citizen of Pakistan and the only known legal US resident at the Guantanamo facility. He was granted asylum in the United States at the time of attending high school near Baltimore, Maryland, in 1998, the report said.
Khan returned to Pakistan in 2002 and joined Al Qaeda to become a direct subordinate to the principal architect of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The report noted that Khan was arrested in Karachi in 2003 and even though his sentence ended on March 1, 2022, he could not return to the United States to rejoin his family. For that reason the Biden administration reached out to several countries, including Belize, to accept Khan.
Two more detainees from Pakistan - Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani and Mohammed Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani - may be resettled in the coming weeks as well, the report said.
"Today, 34 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay: 20 are eligible for transfer; three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board; nine are involved in the military commissions process; and two remaining detainees have been convicted in military commissions," the Defense Department said.
