The United States government has released a Kenyan who was being held at the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison. The Kenyan, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, will now be transferred to Kenyan authorities.
His release from the Guantanamo Bay prison was announced by the US Secretary for Defense General Lloyd J. Austin III.
“The Department of Defense announced today the repatriation of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu (ISN 10025) from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Kenya,” General Lloyd said in a statement.
The statement further added that on Dec. 27, 2021, the Periodic Review Board (PRB) process determined that continued law of war detention of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu (ISN 10025) was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States. The PRB recommended that Bajabu be transferred subject to appropriate security assurances.
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Born in Busia, Bajabu was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay prison in March 2007. This was after Kenyan authorities arrested him in Mombasa in 2007 for being an alleged member of the Al-Qaeda terror network and plotting a bomb attack in Mombasa.
Bajabu’s release from the prison now brings the total number of prisoners at the facility to 29. According to the United States, 15 are eligible for transfer; 3 are eligible for a Periodic Review Board; 7 are involved in the military commissions process; and 4 detainees have been convicted and sentenced by military commissions.
