The Pakistani government has announced the return to the country of the oldest prisoner in Guantanamo prison, Saifula Paracha, after almost 20 years in prison without ever having been formally charged with any charges.
Paracha, a 75-year-old businessman, was arrested in Bangkok in July 2003 on suspicion of belonging to the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, and subsequently taken to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2004.
US authorities had alleged that he was an intermediary for the terrorist group that helped two of the conspirators of the September 11, 2001, attacks carry out a financial transaction.
The US approved Paracha’s release in May 2021 after the annulment, three years earlier, of the conviction of his son Uzair, also arrested for allegedly helping jihadists enter the United States. A court eventually dismissed these charges.
Paracha’s return to Pakistan was confirmed on Saturday by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “We are very happy that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family,” he said on his Twitter account.
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