US frees Kuwaiti Guantanamo inmate

Manama: Only two Kuwaitis are still held at the controversial US prison at Guantanamo Bay after Fouad Mahmoud Al Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national held for almost eight years, has been freed by a federal judge.

Al Rabiah has been transferred from the US detention centre to Kuwait where he will be under the control of the government.

His release has been expected since a federal court in September ruled that he "may no longer be detained under the Authorisation for the Use of Military Force".

Al Rabiah, a 50-year-old aviation engineer, was captured in Afghanistan and accused by the US of "providing money to Osama Bin Laden and helping Taliban fighters in the mountainous Tora Bora region."

Khalid Al Maghames, Kuwait's foreign ministry follow-up and coordination committee head, said that three Kuwaiti officers and a medical team have left for Guantanamo to bring Al Rabiah home, Al Seyassah daily reported. The former prisoner is expected to arrive in Kuwait in the next few days.

With Al Rabiah's release, only two Kuwaitis are still held in the infamous prison. However, reports say that Fayez Al Kandari and Fawzi Al Oudah are expected to be released by the end of this year.

Around 210 prisoners remain today in Guantanamo, amid expectations that the number will drop to 200 by the end of the year. They were 242 when US President Barack Obama moved into the White House in January and pledged to shut the prison that had become a symbol for prisoner abuse at the hands of American officials.