US releases Algerian Guantanamo Bay detainee after two decades

Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush's repatriation brings number of detainees to 30

About 780 Muslim men and boys have been held at the Guantanamo Bay facility since it opened in 2002. AP

US authorities have repatriated an Algerian citizen who had been held at the prison camp at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than two decades, the Department of Defence said on Thursday.

The repatriation of Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush to Algeria brings the number of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison to 30.

Since President Joe Biden took office, 10 detainees have been released, including six in the past month.

It is a major increase from the previous administration, which sought to keep the prison open and only released a single detainee.

The Department of Defence reported that, of the 30 still detained, 16 are eligible for transfers, three are eligible for a periodic review board, nine are involved in the ongoing military commissions process and two have been convicted.

A passenger barge docked at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, on the south-east coast of Cuba. All photos: Willy Lowry / The National

A welcome sign at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

A US Naval Station sign at Guantanamo Bay.

Two US Navy sailors stand at attention as they raise the American Flag at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

A US Navy cutter shipped docked at Guantanamo Bay.

A view of US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and the surrounding countryside.

Hilly landscape surrounding Guantanamo Bay.

A McDonald's arch at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

The exterior of a building at the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay

The 'USS Billings', a littoral combat ship, docked at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Bakush was captured in Pakistan in 2002 during a US raid on an alleged Al Qaeda compound.

Last year, a periodic review board found that Mr Bakush’s continued detention was “no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States”.

The board recommended that he be transferred, pending certain security requirements.

The Department of Defence thanked the government of Algeria for enabling his repatriation.

The US opened the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 under President George W Bush during the sweeping war on terror.

About 780 Muslim men and boys have been held at the prison since.

The vast majority never stood trial or were even charged with a crime.