Two ex-Guantanamo inmates to face ‘rehab’ in Saudi

Saad Muhammed Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood Al Enzi will go through a Saudi rehabilitation process, known as the Counselling Programme, interior ministry says.

RIYADH // Two Saudi inmates from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have arrived in their home country following a US transfer, authorities in Riyadh said on Tuesday.

Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani and Hamood Abdulla Hamood Al Enzi will go through a Saudi rehabilitation process, known as the Counselling Programme, interior ministry spokesman General Mansur Al Turki said.

Their families have been informed and arrangements have been made for them to meet up, he said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

A US defence department document said Hamood is aged 48, while a document released by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks indicated Qahtani is 35.

A Pentagon official said on Monday there were still 15 Saudis in Guantanamo, some of who are not eligible for release.

Among Guantanamo’s so-called “high value prisoners” is the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The latest transfers bring the total number remaining at the US detention centre to 160 inmates.

There were 82 inmates, including 56 Yemenis, at Guantanamo who had been cleared for release, before the pair were sent home.

On December 5, two Algerians were repatriated from Guantanamo despite the prisoners’ protests they could face persecution back in their country.

US President Barack Obama is trying to accelerate repatriations in order to close the prison, nearly 12 years after it was opened at a US naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba.

The prison was opened in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to house suspects captured by US forces and spies in anti-terror operations around the world.

* Agence France-Presse