clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Deportation of Saudi Guantanamo inmate delayed indefinitely

February 22, 2018 at 1:52 pm

Guantanamo Bay detention camp [Joint Task Force Guantanam/Flickr]

The deportation of a Saudi man who pleaded guilty to planning a terrorist attack has been postponed indefinitely pending assurances from the Saudi authorities.

On Tuesday, CNN quoted Ramzi Qasim, lawyer of Ahmed Al-Darbi, a former member of Al-Qaeda, as saying that his client signed a plea deal in 2014 in which he admitted planning and committing a terrorist act and testified against two Guantanamo inmates in exchange for spending the remaining nine years of his sentence in Saudi Arabia. Al-Darbi was supposed to be deported to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Pentagon spokeswoman, Sarah Higgins said the US is still waiting for assurances from the Saudi government before moving forward with the deportation process.

A few weeks ago US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba open in a move that largely contradicts the policy of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Al-Darbi is one of 41 detainees still incarcerated at the controversial facility.

Read: Amnesty: Rise of state repression in the Gulf