WASHINGTON, 06 February 2022, (TON): According to a government document published “American authorities have recommended releasing a mentally ill inmate from Guantanamo Bay and repatriating him to Saudi Arabia.”

Suspected of being Al Qaeda’s intended 20th hijacker for the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured by interrogators at the US military base in Cuba where he has been detained for nearly two decades.

The government dropped its case against him in 2008 due to the abuse he experienced at the prison.

The detention of  al-Qahtani is “no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States,” the Periodic Review Board, a panel composed of several US national security agencies, said in a summary of its decision.

In its final determination dated February 4, the board said al-Qahtani was “eligible for transfer” and recommended that he be repatriated to Saudi Arabia where he could receive comprehensive mental health care and be enrolled in a rehabilitation center for extremists.

The body noted his “significantly compromised mental health condition and available family support.”

Security measures, including surveillance and travel restrictions, were also recommended.