Joe Biden: US government transfers first Guantanamo detainee

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Prisoners in Guantanamo (2010): First transfer during Biden's tenure

Photo: Brennan Linsley / AP

Around six months after taking office, US President Joe Biden's government transferred a prisoner from the Guantanamo prison camp to his home country for the first time.

Abdul Latif Nasir was brought to Morocco because he no longer posed a threat to the national security of the United States, said the US Department of Defense.

Morocco had given security guarantees and promised "humane treatment" for Nasir, it said.

39 prisoners remain in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The camp was set up after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 under Republican President George W. Bush to detain suspected Islamist terrorists without trial. Bush's successor, Democrat Barack Obama, wanted to close it, but failed due to opposition in the US Congress. The Republican Donald Trump, in turn, wanted to keep the camp open. Now Obama's former Vice President, today's President Biden, is trying again to close it.

Nasir, who was transferred to Morocco, was directly affected by the political back-and-forth in the USA: a commission set up under Obama recommended his dismissal in 2016.

However, the necessary steps could no longer be taken before the change of government - and Trump strictly rejected dismissals from the camp.

The Pentagon did not provide any information on whether Nasir would remain detained or released in Morocco.

asa / dpa