Oldest prisoner in Guantanamo Bay released after 18 years, returns to Pakistan

Saif Ullah Paracha, 75, was captured by the US in Thailand in 2003 and had been detained at Guantanamo since 2004.

Islamabad: A 75-year-old Pakistani Guantanamo Bay prisoner suspected of links to Al-Qaeda has been released after 18 years and returned to Pakistan on Saturday, officials said. Saif Ullah Paracha, the oldest prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, was held on suspicion of ties to Al-Qaeda since 2003 but was never charged with a crime. The Foreign Office (FO) in a statement confirmed that Paracha has reached Pakistan. Saif Ullah Paracha, a Pakistani national, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay, has been released and reached Pakistan on Saturday, the statement said.

"The Foreign Ministry completed an extensive inter-agency process to facilitate the repatriation of Paracha. We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family," the FO said.

Known as the oldest prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, his release was approved in May last year.

Separately, Foreign Minister Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari also tweeted about his release.

Mr. Paracha, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay  , has been released & reached  on Saturday. The Foreign Ministry completed an extensive inter-agency process to facilitate repatriation of Mr. Paracha. We are glad that a citizen detained abroad is reunited with his family. https://t.co/VSTOTAbuMP

— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) October 29, 2022

Paracha, who lived in the US and owned property in New York City, was a wealthy businessman in Pakistan. He was captured by the US in Thailand in 2003 and had been detained at Guantanamo since September 2004.

Saif Ullah Paracha was accused of being an Al-Qaeda "facilitator"

He was accused of being an Al-Qaeda "facilitator" who helped two of the conspirators in the September 11 plot with a financial transaction.

But Paracha, who suffers from a number of ailments including diabetes and a heart condition, has denied his involvement in terrorism, saying he did not know the men he was dealing with were Al-Qaeda members.

However, the US has long asserted that it can hold detainees indefinitely without charge under the international laws of war.

Paracha's son had also been arrested on the charge of helping suspected militants to get into the US through faulty documents months before his father's arrest, Dawn newspaper reported.

He was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2005 by the federal court in New York, however, a judge threw out witness accounts in March 2020.

Uzair Paracha, a graduate of Pakistan's prestigious Institute of Business Administration, was sent back to Pakistan in 2021 after the US government decided not to seek a new trial.