Board Rules Guantanamo Prisoner Can Be Released

There are 155 prisoners left at the Guantanamo detention camp. (file photo)

A U.S. government review board has determined that a Yemeni man held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 can be released.

The board determined that Mahmud al-Mujahid no longer poses a significant threat to the United States.

He is one of several dozen men who were previously deemed too dangerous to release but who could not be prosecuted because of a lack of evidence or some other reason.

President Barack Obama directed officials to review those cases as part of plans to close the prison.

Mujahid was accused of being an Al-Qaeda fighter and a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden although he was never charged with a crime.

Mujahid, 33, was the first prisoner to go before the review board.

There are 155 prisoners at Guantanamo.


Based on reporting by AP and BBC