 |
| Old Photo Of Majid Khan Photo Credt (BBC News) |
The US government has released a Pakistani national accused of being an Al Qaeda courier after 20 years.
Majid Khan, 42, who spent the last 15 years of his imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, was released in the Central American state of Belize.
It should be noted that Majid Khan was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was commuted due to his cooperation with the American authorities.
His release in the Central American state is the first time that the administration of US President Joe Biden has released a prisoner in another country.
According to the American newspaper New York Times, Majid Khan plans to settle permanently in Belize and his wife and young daughter, who was born after his arrest, will also join him in the country.
It is not yet clear whether Majid Khan's release to another country is the result of a US condition or not.
In a statement issued by his lawyers after his release, Majid Khan said, "I have been given a second chance in life and I want to make the most of it."
Majid Khan said, "I regret the things I did many years ago and I have tried to rectify them."
He said that the world has changed a lot in 20 years, but I have also changed.
According to the New York Times, Belize's foreign minister said in a statement on the decision to allow Majid Khan to stay in his country that although he had participated in acts of terrorism, "he was tortured and now he is committed to extremism." Khairabad has said, he has cooperated with the American authorities and completed his sentence.
It should be noted that Belize, located in the south of Mexico, is a small country of about four million people, where the English language is spoken.
Who is Majid Khan?
Born in Saudi Arabia, Majid Khan spent his childhood in Pakistan and then moved to America at the age of 16.
He studied in the American state of Baltimore and worked at his father's petrol pump. Then in 2002, he returned to Pakistan where he was introduced to Al-Qaeda.
According to the prosecution, Majid Khan had offered his services to kill the former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf and had also provided money to the extremist organization Jamia Islamia in this regard.
Majid Khan was also alleged to have gone to Bangkok to give the organization $50,000 and the same amount was allegedly used to attack the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August 2003.
American officials say that when he went to Pakistan, his family members introduced him to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.
He was first detained in March 2003 when Pakistani security forces raided his home in Karachi.
Pakistan handed them over to the CIA. He was first held in a secret detention center overseas and transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Majid Khan told a military tribunal in 2007 that he was subjected to psychological torture and had attempted suicide twice.
What did Majid Khan say in his testimony?
According to Majid, he was a naive youth when he was lured to work for al-Qaeda. According to Majid, he has now rejected both al-Qaeda and terrorism.
According to his lawyer, Majid provided information to US intelligence officials from the beginning, but he was subjected to "severe and severe torture" during detention.
Majid read a 39-page statement before the court at Guantanamo Bay in which he described in detail how he was subjected to brutal treatment by stripping him naked and covering his head with a cloth. According to them, they were often not allowed to sleep, force-fed and chained.
His testimony is the first by any detainee held in CIA detention facilities abroad since the September 11 attacks.
He told the court: 'The more I cooperated, the more I was tortured.' He said there came a point when he started lying to please the interrogators.
Majid's allegations are similar to a report released in 2014 that highlighted the CIA's 'interrogation' practices.
In 2013, as part of a plea deal with the US government, Majid's confession was commuted and he was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
But a joint letter written by seven of the eight senior military officers on the jury that convicted him recommended leniency for Majid Khan.
The letter stated that the treatment of Majid Khan "has not served American interests in any practical way, intelligence-gathering or otherwise."
According to the letter: "On the contrary, the treatment of Majid Khan at the hands of US officials is a stain on America's moral reputation that should shame the US government."
0 Comments