An Algerian man who had been detained at the US prison camp at Guantanamo in Cuba since 2002 has been transferred to France, the French Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The ministry named the man as Saber Lahmar and said he had been cleared of all terrorism charges by courts of justice in several countries including the US.
The statement said that by agreeing to host Lahmar, France was contributing to US President Barack Obama’s efforts to shut down Guantanamo, which has long been denounced by US critics as a place where human rights were routinely violated.
“We have chosen to support the implementation of President Obama’s decision, which meets with a long-standing expectation of the European Union,” the French ministry said.
Lahnar was the second detainee taken in by France. Another Algerian, Lakhdar Boumediene, was transferred in May.
The statement said French authorities would make every effort to help Lahmar integrate into French society.
“After seven years of incarceration at Guantanamo, Mr Lahmar can at last resume a normal life,” it said.
Lahmar arrived in Bordeaux, France, early yesterday, his Boston-based lawyer Robert Kirsch confirmed.
“We are grateful for the courage and generosity of the French people and government,” Kirsch said, adding that Lahmar will now have “a chance to rebuild his life in France.” Lahmar is one of six Algerians who were detained in Bosnia in 2001 on suspicion of plotting to bomb the US Embassy in Sarajevo, but a judge later cleared five of them, including Lahmar, for lack of evidence.
Obama pledged to close Guantanamo by Jan. 22 but has acknowledged that his deadline would likely be missed because of political and diplomatic obstacles.
More than 200 detainees remain in the prison. About 90 have been cleared to be transferred, but the Obama administration, limited by Congress from bringing them into the US, has struggled to convince other countries to take them in.
Meanwhile, two Tunisians who had been detained at Guantanamo arrived in Italy late on Monday and will be tried on international terrorism charges for having allegedly recruited fighters for Afghanistan, officials said.
Adel Ben Mabrouk, 39, and Mohamed Ben Riadh Nasri, 43, are suspected of being members of a terror group with ties to al-Qaeda.
They were immediately taken into custody upon arrival in Milan and were being interrogated, a prosecutor said.
Another detainee will be sent to Hungary, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the release.
The identity of the detainee being transferred to Hungary was not immediately available. The Washington Post said he was a Palestinian.
In September, two Uzbeks were sent to Ireland, and recently two Syrians arrived in Portugal. But they were freed. In the case of the Tunisians, Italian magistrates had previously accused them of international terrorism stemming from crimes allegedly committed as far back as 1997 and they arrived in Italy already in detention.
Italy took in the Tunisians as a “concrete political sign” of Italy’s commitment to help the US close Guantanamo, Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said in a statement.
The Italian prosecutor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mabrouk and Nasri traveled from Italy to Afghanistan and, once there, maintained a “functional relationship inside the organization” of Tunisians to recruit fighters for suicide missions.
Nasri was allegedly the head of the organization and was described by the US military as a “dangerous” Tunisian operative when he appeared before a US military review panel.
Italy had indicated it would accept three Tunisians; the prosecutor said he didn’t know if and when the third would arrive.
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