Would-be 9/11 hijacker released from Guantanamo Bay, sent back to Saudi Arabia for mental treatment

Families of 9/11 victims and Republics expressed outrage as the so-called 9/11 ’20th hijacker’ was released from Guantanamo Bay prison and sent back to Saudi Arabia for psychiatric treatment.

Would-be terrorist Mohammed Ahmad al-Qahtani, 46, who reportedly missed boarding a plane to fly into the World Trade Center because he was detained by authorities on immigration charges, was flown to his native country after a review board of military and intelligence officials, Pentagon officials said Monday.

‘If this is true, it’s a slap in the face to all who perished that day,’ Stephanie Hoover posted on Twitter.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who had sent a letter last week to Biden urging him not to go through with the release, said it was a ‘massive error which poses a serious risk to our national security.’

 ‘Al-Qahtani is a terrorist who made it his life goal to kill Americans,’ Rubio said. ‘I believe he remains committed to jihad and the destruction of the United States.’

‘Now, because of the Biden Administration’s misguided policies, he has the opportunity to once again return to the battlefield. The decision to transfer al-Qahtani is not simply a lapse in judgment, it is a massive error which poses a serious risk to our national security and the security of our allies.’

Al-Qahtani’s release, which was approved last month by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, comes as the Biden administration puts pressure on Saudi Arabia to release more oil amid the crisis in Ukraine. 

Angela Mistrulli, whose father Joseph died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, said that she was frustrated at the lack of due process.

‘I think it’s very said to be a child of someone who was killed on 9/11 not to have a day in court for my father and the 3000 other people who were murdered,’ she said. ‘I find it more and more that they are taking away are ability to prosecute and get the truth.’

In August 2001, al-Qahtani was turned away from the U.S. at the Orlando airport by immigration officers who were suspicious of his travel. The lead Sept. 11 hijacker, Mohammed Atta, was going to pick him up to take part in the plot, according to previously released documents.

U.S. forces later captured him in Afghanistan and sent him to Guantanamo, where he was subjected to brutal interrogations that the Pentagon legal official in charge of war crimes commissions said amounted to torture. 

Mohammed al-Qahtani was released by U.S. authorities and sent back to Saudia Arabia for psychiatric treatment

Mohammed al-Qahtani was released by U.S. authorities and sent back to Saudia Arabia for psychiatric treatment

He has been at Guantanamo for 20 years but charges against him were dropped years ago after it was determined that he had been tortured while in U.S. custody.

‘After two decades without trial in U.S. custody, Mohammed will now receive the psychiatric care he has long needed in Saudi Arabia, with the support of his family,’ said Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York who represented al-Qahtani with help from students for over a decade. ‘Keeping him at Guantanamo, where he was tortured, and then repeatedly attempted suicide, would have been a likely death sentence.’ 

Joseph Mistrulli, who was a union carpenter working in Windows on the World on 9/11, was killed in the attack. His daughter Angela says Biden is taking away her ability to know the truth about what happened

Joseph Mistrulli, who was a union carpenter working in Windows on the World on 9/11, was killed in the attack. His daughter Angela says Biden is taking away her ability to know the truth about what happened

That treatment included beatings, exposure to extreme temperatures and noise, sleep deprivation and extended solitary confinement. An FBI official in 2002 observed al-Qahtani speaking to non-existent people, hearing voices and crouching in a corner of his cell while covering himself with a sheet for hours at a time. 

Al-Qahtani, who is the second Guantanamo Bay prisoner released by President Joe Biden, has suffered schizophrenia and other mental illnesses since childhood, according to medical records. 

There are now 38 prisoners still in detention at the U.S. military facility in Cuba.  

However, only half the men held there have been cleared for release, and no decision has been made about what to do with the rest, including those who still face trial by military commission.

‘It concerns me that the administration is fertilizing the ground for another terrorist attack,’ Mistrulli said. 

The Defense Department notified Congress of its intention to transfer al-Qahtani in February, prompting outrage from some Republicans.

 Republican senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jim Risch of Indiana last week sent Biden letter urging him not to let the Saudi go. 

‘We are concerned that that he may try to resume terrorist activity once released from U.S. custody,’ they said in their letter.

‘The individuals remaining at Guantanamo are some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world and have dedicated their lives to attacking Americans and our allies,’ the trio wrote. ‘As such, they should not be given the opportunity to return to the battlefield in any role.’ 

Al-Qahtani reportedly was supposed to be on one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center by was detained by immigration authorities

Al-Qahtani reportedly was supposed to be on one of the planes that struck the World Trade Center by was detained by immigration authorities

There are now 38 prisoners still in detention on the U.S. military facility in Cuba

There are now 38 prisoners still in detention on the U.S. military facility in Cuba

Lawyers for al-Qahtani obtained a federal court order in 2020 requiring a medical examination of the prisoner by an independent medical panel, which could have ordered his repatriation under Army regulations if the diagnosis of his doctors was confirmed. The Trump administration contested the order, a legal fight that was dropped under Biden. 

The 38 remaining prisoners at Guantanamo include 19 who have been approved for repatriation or resettlement by the review board. There are another 7 who are eligible for review. Ten prisoners face trial by military commission, including five charged with involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Their death penalty case has been stalled for years in the pretrial phase.

The remaining two prisoners at the base have been convicted, one of whom, former Maryland resident Majid Khan, is nearing the completion of his sentence under a plea deal.

source: dailymail.co.uk