Lawyer says Kuwaiti man released from Guantanamo after judge orders him freed

Lawyer says Kuwaiti man released from Guantanamo

WASHINGTON — A Guantanamo Bay detainee from Kuwait has been released to his home country, a lawyer for the man said Thursday.

Attorney David Cynamon said a Kuwaiti plane arrived at the U.S. military detention center in Cuba to pick up Khaled al-Mutairi, and the plane is now headed back to Kuwait.

“It took far too long — more than seven years — to get a fair hearing,” said Cynamon. “He lost many years of his life because the U.S. government fought against giving fair hearings to these detainees.”

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment or confirm al-Mutairi’s departure.

In July, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had ordered al-Mutairi released.

His departure leaves 222 inmates still at the detention center.

Al-Mutairi has been held since 2001, when he was taken into U.S. custody in Pakistan after traveling to Afghanistan. His attorneys said he went to build a mosque and provide money for schools and orphans, but prosecutors said he fought against the United States and supported al-Qaida.