US officials release Guantanamo Bay prisoner with links to Al Qaeda

November 23, 2014 00:13

A Saudi citizen with links to al Qaida has been released from Guantanamo Bay after serving 12 years.Muhammad al-Zahrani, 45, was sent back to his homeland of Saudi Arabia on Friday after a U.S. government board decided that he no longer posed a threat.

The move came as the U.S government whittles down the prison population at the controversial prison base in Cuba in a bid to close the controversial base.According to officials, even more prisoners will be released from the site where 142 men are currently held including 73 who have already been cleared for release.Al-Zahrani is the thirteenth prisoner to leave Guantanamo Bay this year and the seventh in just the past two weeks.During his hearing, his lawyers told the review board that he was no longer a threat to the U.S. and was instead a 'middle-aged, ailing man who desperately wanted to return to Saudi Arabia.'

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