The Biden administration on Thursday released from Guantánamo Bay a former courier for the al Qaeda terrorist group, two decades after he was arrested for his participation in terrorist plots including a deadly Indonesia bombing.
Majid Khan was released in Belize roughly one year after the end of his sentence. His release from the Guantánamo detention center, where he was a “high-value” prisoner, was delayed because of difficulty finding a country willing to resettle him, the Washington Post reported.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday described Khan’s release as part of the administration’s “deliberate and thorough process, focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population” at Guantánamo Bay.
The Saudi Arabia-born Khan lived in Maryland before moving to Pakistan and working with al Qaeda. Khan dealt with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, and participated in the logistics of terrorist plots—couriering $50,000 to terrorists who killed 12 in a 2003 hotel bombing in Indonesia, the Post reported. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
Khan expressed contrition for his participation in terrorist plots, saying through a statement released by his lawyers, “I have been given a second chance in life and I intend to make the most of it.”
