Biden administration releases al Qaeda terrorist in Belize

The Biden administration transferred an al Qaeda terrorist from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Belize last Thursday after being held for 16 years in CIA custody. 

Majid Khan, a Pakistani man, admitted to conspiring with members of the al Qaeda Islamic militant organization and providing them with material to support their terrorist acts, U.S. officials said. Additionally, authorities said that Khan intended to attack U.S. gas stations and water reservoirs under the terrorist group’s orders. 

Khan was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and taken to a CIA black site until 2006 before being transferred to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Khan made the news in 2021 when he accused the CIA of extensively torturing him during his interrogations. 

"I deeply regret the things that I did many years ago, and I have taken responsibility and tried to make up for them. I continue to ask for forgiveness from God and those I have hurt. I am truly sorry," Khan said in a statement issued through his legal team. 

The Biden administration reached out to more than a dozen countries to find a place to resettle the detainee. Khan’s transfer was accepted by Belize’s government. Upon his arrival, Khan met with Belize’s Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay, promising to live as a law-abiding citizen in the country. 

"Mr. Khan is not a terrorist. He has fully recanted, accepted responsibilities for his action, and asks Allah for forgiveness," Courtenay told a news conference in the Central American country.

Khan is the first Guantanamo detainee released since last October. Currently, the facility holds 34 other inmates, 20 of which are eligible to transfer to another country. 

After assuming office, Biden has expressed hopes to close the facility. However, there is a federal law barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to U.S. mainland prisons.

"We remain dedicated to a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population at Guantanamo Bay and ultimately closing the facility," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.