Biden releases bin Laden bodyguards, other alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to Oman

As his days in office draw to a close, President Joe Biden has released nearly a dozen Yemenis from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba as part of a larger goal of closing the facility permanently.

On Monday, the Department of Defense announced that 11 prisoners would be transferred to Oman: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj, and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.

Both al-Alwi and al Sharabi worked as bodyguards for the late Osama bin Laden, former leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and organizer of the 9/11 attacks.

Al-Alwi, who was also allegedly a member of Al-Qaeda, served on bin Laden's security detail in Afghanistan. A 2016 intelligence file noted that he had been "pardoned" for a number of infractions at Gitmo since his capture and suggested that he may still have an "extremist mindset" based on some of his statements while in prison, the New York Post reported.

In addition to working as bin Laden's bodyguard, al Sharabi, another suspected member of Al-Qaeda, was also allegedly involved in "an aborted 9/11-style hijacking plot in Southwest Asia," according to his 2020 intelligence file.

None of the 11 transferred detainees has ever been charged with a crime, though American courts have never firmly settled whether enemy combatants ... should be treated as accused criminals.

All 11 Gitmo prisoners are Yemeni nationals who were captured shortly after 9/11. They will all be transferred to Oman as part of a pledge from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in September 2023.

"The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility," the DOD press release said.

None of the 11 transferred detainees has ever been charged with a crime, though American courts have never firmly settled whether enemy combatants captured on a battlefield should be treated as accused criminals, conferred with full due process rights and subject to the justice system.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, is an exception. After more than 20 years at Gitmo, Mohammed is expected to avoid the death penalty by pleading guilty to plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Fox News reported.

Co-conspirators Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who have also been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003, were also offered plea deals.

With the 11 detainees gone, Gitmo now has just 15 remaining prisoners, a tiny fraction of the number of prisoners held there at the peak of the War on Terror. In 2003, the facility housed 680 prisoners.

H/T: The Post Millennial

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