US Repatriates To Pakistan Two Brothers Held At Gitmo For 20 Years

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2023) The US repatriated to Pakistan two more Guantanamo Bay detainees, reducing the number left to 32, the Pentagon said in a statement.

"The Department of Defense announced today the repatriations of Abdul Rabbani and Mohammed Rabbani from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Pakistan," the release said on Thursday.

The Rabbani brothers were in US custody for 20 years and never charged with a crime.

The New York Times, citing two officials, said they were arrested for allegedly operating a terrorist safe house in the wake of 9/11.

They arrived to the prison, located on the coast of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, after being kept at a CIA-run black site in Afghanistan for 1.5 years, the report added.

The brothers, described in US intelligence files as Pakistani nationals, were actually born and raised in Saudi Arabia and are ethnically Rohingya.

The Pentagon said of the 32 detainees remaining, 18 are eligible for transfer, 12 are in the review or military commission process, and two have been convicted.