US transfers two brothers detained in Guantanamo Bay to Pakistan

• US transferred two brothers from Guantanamo Bay to Pakistan
• Rabbani brothers were arrested in 2002 and were never charged
• They are still 32 detainees in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility

WASHINGTON: The United States has transferred two brothers from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba to Pakistan, part of the ongoing efforts to close the notorious prison facility.

The Pentagon announced the repatriation of Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani and Muhammed Ahmed Rabbani to Pakistan. The transfer has brought the total number of people held at Guantanamo down to 32, the Pentagon said.

Both were arrested in 2002 and held as detainees in the decades long war against terror for operating safe houses used by Al-Qaeda members Abdul Rabbani was an Al-Qaeda facilitator while Muhammed Rabbani was a financial and travel facilitator for prominent al-Qaeda leaders, according to the Pentagon’s website.

The brothers, who were never charged with a crime, were repatriated to Pakistan after it was determined that their detention was no longer needed to protect against a “continuing, significant threat” to the United States, the Defense Department said.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of the Government of Pakistan and other partners to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had notified Congress in January of his intent to repatriate the Rabbani brothers to Pakistan. A total of 32 detainees remain, of whom 18 are eligible for transfer, the Pentagon said in its statement.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that the Pakistani nationals in have been released and repatriated to Pakistan It said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated an extensive inter-agency process to facilitate their repatriation. “We are pleased that these Pakistani nationals have finally reunited with their families,” the statement added

The Guantanamo camp was established by President George W. Bush in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects following the 9/11 attacks. It came to symbolise the excesses of the US “war on terror” because of harsh interrogation methods that critics have said amounted to torture.

There were 40 detainees when President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Biden has said he hopes to close the facility. The federal government is barred by law from transferring Guantanamo detainees to US mainland prisons.

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