Biden admin releases 11 Yemeni detainees with suspected al Qaeda ties from Guantanamo Bay — including two alleged former bin Laden bodyguards

The Pentagon announced Monday that it has released 11 Yemeni detainees with suspected ties to al Qaeda from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba. 

The detainees, none of whom have been charged with a crime, will be resettled in Oman as the Biden administration moves to wind down operations at the notorious detention facility. 

“Although different processes, each of the Yemeni detainees underwent a thorough, interagency review by career professionals who unanimously determined all detainees as transfer eligible consistent with the national security interests of the United States,” the Department of Defense said in a statement. 

The Pentagon noted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin notified Congress in 2023 of his intent to repatriate the 11 Yemeni detainees to Oman. 

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Oman and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the DoD said. 

Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, an alleged al Qaeda fighter and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, was one of the 11 men released.  

An unclassified 2016 US intelligence file on al-Alwi warns that as a GITMO detainee he “has made several statements since early 2016 that suggest he maintains an extremist mindset.”

The file also notes that al-Alwi has committed a number of disciplinary infractions while in detention that were “pardoned” as part of an “incentive for detainees to improve their conduct.”

Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, another alleged bin Laden bodyguard, was also released. 

Al Sharabi’s 2020 intelligence file notes that he “may have been associated with an aborted 9/11-style hijacking plot in Southwest Asia” as a member of al Qaeda. 

The nine others being released to Oman are: Uthman Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, Khalid Ahmed Qassim, Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, Tawfiq Nasir Awad Al-Bihani, Omar Mohammed Ali al-Rammah, Sanad Ali Yislam Al Kazimi, Hassan Muhammad Ali Bib Attash, Sharqawi Abdu Ali Al Hajj and Abd Al-Salam Al-Hilah.

The latest batch of transfers follows the Pentagon’s December announcement that detainee Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi had been resettled in Tunisia. 

Fifteen detainees remain at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, of whom three are eligible for transfer and three are eligible to have their detention status reviewed, according to the Pentagon. 

Another seven inmates are involved in the military commissions process and two others have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.

The Biden administration offered plea deals last year to alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and co-conspirators Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. All three men have been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003. 

The deals, slammed by 9/11 families, Republican lawmakers and the defense secretary, will spare the alleged terrorists the death penalty.