Fade
12-10-2009, 10:58 AM
U.S. sends Kuwaiti detainee home from Guantanamo
09 Dec 2009 22:33:07 GMT
Source: *******
(Adds attorney comment, background on al Rabiah, transfers)
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (*******) - A Kuwaiti detainee held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for almost eight years was sent home after a federal judge ordered him freed in September, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
Fouad al Rabiah, 50, a Kuwait Airways engineer, was captured in Afghanistan and accused by the United States of providing money to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and helping Taliban fighters in the mountainous Tora Bora region.
But al Rabiah's lawyers said the case was based on mistaken identity and that their client was in Afghanistan in October 2001 coordinating deliveries of aid supplies from Iran to refugees when he was captured.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered al Rabiah's release in September after finding he had received only two weeks of military training, which was required in Kuwait, and that he had a record of charity work with no ties to terrorism.
She also said his confessions to interrogators under harsh conditions were not believable. Al Rabiah's lawyers called on President Barack Obama to apologize on behalf of the United States and provide "appropriate compensation" to the Kuwaiti for his ordeal.
"Mr. al Rabiah can never reclaim the eight years he lost at Guantanamo Bay -- and the United States must not simply turn and forget," said his lawyer David Cynamon.Article continued at http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09179075.htm
09 Dec 2009 22:33:07 GMT
Source: *******
(Adds attorney comment, background on al Rabiah, transfers)
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (*******) - A Kuwaiti detainee held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for almost eight years was sent home after a federal judge ordered him freed in September, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
Fouad al Rabiah, 50, a Kuwait Airways engineer, was captured in Afghanistan and accused by the United States of providing money to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and helping Taliban fighters in the mountainous Tora Bora region.
But al Rabiah's lawyers said the case was based on mistaken identity and that their client was in Afghanistan in October 2001 coordinating deliveries of aid supplies from Iran to refugees when he was captured.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered al Rabiah's release in September after finding he had received only two weeks of military training, which was required in Kuwait, and that he had a record of charity work with no ties to terrorism.
She also said his confessions to interrogators under harsh conditions were not believable. Al Rabiah's lawyers called on President Barack Obama to apologize on behalf of the United States and provide "appropriate compensation" to the Kuwaiti for his ordeal.
"Mr. al Rabiah can never reclaim the eight years he lost at Guantanamo Bay -- and the United States must not simply turn and forget," said his lawyer David Cynamon.Article continued at http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09179075.htm