US releases another high-profile Guantanamo prisoner without charge

US releases another high-profile Guantanamo prisoner without charge
Faez Mohammed al-Kandari has been held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay for 13 years, but now will return home to Kuwait after the US decided to release him without charge.
2 min read
08 January, 2016
Kuwaitis protested against the US' detention of Kandari [AFP]

One of Guantanamo Bay's most high-profile prisoners has been released by US authorities and is being repatriated back to Kuwait.

It comes after a intelligence review found that Faez Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari was no longer considered a threat to the US.

"[His detention] does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Kandari will be handed over the Kuwait authorities, the statement added, according to Reuters.

The 40-year old had been imprisoned in Guantanamo - a US enclave in Cuba - since 2002.

He was accused of foreign fighters to wage war in Afghanistan, although Kandari has always denied the charges.  

Kandari is the third prisoner to be released from the detention camp this week, and the 19th to be released this month.

On Wednesday, Mahmud Umar Muhammad bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih al-Dhuby - both Yemeni nationals - were flown to Ghana after Accra agreed to host them. 

Guantanamo Bay sits on the southeastern tip of Cuba, and is completely fenced off from the communist-run island.

Since 2002, a total of 779 detainees have been held at there in connection with Washington's "war on terror".

Inmates are kept without recourse to regular US legal processes, and 104 prisoners are still being held at the detention centre.