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The Biden administration transferred its first inmate out of Guantánamo Bay, leaving 39 prisoners in the establishment of the US base in Cuba.
The Defense Ministry announced the transfer of Abdul Latif Nasir to his native Morocco in a statement Monday morning.
In 2016, under former President Barack Obama, a review board determined that Nasir’s detention was no longer necessary to protect against “a significant and continuing threat” to the national security of the United States, according to the communicated.
The board recommended Nasir’s repatriation, but the transfer was not completed by the end of the Obama administration. Nasir was also not repatriated under former President Donald Trump.
“The United States commends the Kingdom of Morocco for its long-standing partnership in protecting the national security interests of the two countries,” the statement said.
“The United States is also extremely grateful for the Kingdom’s willingness to support the ongoing American efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. “
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The transfer comes after NBC News reported in June that President Joe Biden quietly began efforts to shut down the detention center in the US enclave on Cuba’s southeast coast.
Sources previously told NBC News that the administration hoped to transfer a handful of the remaining terrorism suspects to foreign countries, then persuade Congress to allow the transfer of the rest – including the 9/11 suspects – in custody on the American continent. Biden hopes to shut down the facility by the end of his first term, people familiar with the talks said.
Former President George W. Bush opened the detention center in 2002. At its peak, it held nearly 800 detainees, including 9/11 suspects and fighters in Afghanistan.
During his presidential campaign, Obama pledged to close the prison within a year of taking office and two days after his inauguration, he signed an executive order to close the facility by the end of the year. year.
However, Congress resisted transferring detainees to the United States and at the end of Obama’s second term, the detention center remained open. Obama, however, succeeded in reducing Guantanamo’s population from 245 to 41 detainees, transferring many to foreign countries.
During his tenure, Trump signed a presidential decree keeping the facility open, and one inmate was transferred to a foreign country during his tenure.
The United States must negotiate a transfer agreement with a foreign government for each detainee eligible for transfer, which can be difficult for detainees in destabilized countries like Yemen.
Biden ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. The war in Afghanistan is the longest in the United States and has claimed the lives of approximately 2,300 American soldiers since 2001.
The United States invaded the country in 2001, overthrowing the Taliban group that housed Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 attacks. As US troops retreat, the Taliban are taking control of more territories at a rate that has even surprised some militants.
Carol E. Lee and Courtney kube contributed.
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