The US military releases an American suspect from ISIL after more than a year


[ad_1]

Officials said that the individual had been transported to Bahrain, where he had been released.

The American was captured in Syria by anti-ISIS fighters backed by the United States and held by the US military in Iraq since September 2017 without ever being tried.

One official identified the person as Abdulrahman Ahmad Alsheikh and said that his US passport had been canceled.

The fate of the US-Saudi dual citizen has been the subject of a multi-month long legal battle between the US government and the American Civil Liberties Union.

A federal judge had previously blocked the US government's efforts to transfer him to a third country or release him to Syria.

In a statement released Monday, the ACLU confirmed the information regarding his release, claiming that he was "now a free man".

"Under a confidential settlement agreement, the US government released it in an unnamed country," the statement said.

"Our client has fought hard for his rights," said Jonathan Hafetz, lead counsel for the ACLU's National Security Project, in a statement.

"We must not lose sight of the fact that the Trump government thought it could infringe the rights of this American citizen, and this case shows the continuing importance of the courts for the protection of the rights of Americans against excessive government influence," he added. Hafetz.

Defense Department officials said the Syrian democratic forces supported by the United States had more than 700 foreign terrorist fighters in detention from 40 countries.

US officials have sought to encourage countries to repatriate their citizens to Syria in order to ease the burden of TFR detention centers.

However, many countries are reluctant to do so because of the difficulty of prosecuting alleged ISIL members based on evidence gathered on the battlefield.

Zachary Cohen from CNN contributed to the report.

[ad_2]Source link