Oldest Guantanamo Bay prisoner transferred to Pakistan after 17 years in custody, U.S. says

A 75-year-old from Pakistan who was the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was released and returned to Pakistan on Saturday, the foreign ministry in Islamabad and the U.S. Defense Department said.

Saifullah Paracha was reunited with his family after more than 17 years in custody in the U.S. base in Cuba, the ministry added.

Paracha had been held on suspicion of ties to al Qaeda since 2003, but was never charged with a crime. In May 2021, he was notified that he had been been approved for release. He was cleared by the prisoner review board, along with two other men in November 2020.