Long-held detainee returns to Kuwait

One of the longest-held prisoners at the United States detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Kuwaiti Fawzi al-Odah, arrived back in his homeland on Thursday, according to Kuwaiti political science professor Ghanim al-Najjar, who closely follows the issue of Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo.

Odah, 37, was sent home on Wednesday, the first release based on the determination of a review panel that has been re-evaluating some men previously classified as too dangerous to release.

Odah had been the focus of an arduous battle, supported by his government, to secure his release.

Odah faces a minimum of one year at a militant-rehabilitation center on the grounds of a Kuwaiti prison under the transfer agreement. His lawyer said that after six months, Odah will be eligible to leave for part of the day to work or see family.

His transfer brings the detention center population to 148 and is the first since May, when US President Barack Obama angered Congress by trading five Taliban prisoners for captive US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl without notifying lawmakers.

The release of Odah was criticized by US Senator Kelly Ayotte, a chief proponent of keeping the prison open. He called it "yet another dangerous example of the Obama administration's misguided motivation to empty and then close Guantanamo rather than protect US national security interests".

Odah had been at Guantanamo since February 2002, and was one of the first prisoners brought to the base on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

(China Daily 11/07/2014 page12)