The main gate at the prison in Guantanamo at the US Guantanamo Naval Base on October 16, 2018, in Guantanamo Base, Cuba. - The Guantanamo prison, which houses detainees accused of participating in the 9/11 attacks, is to remain open for at least 25 y WASHINGTON (AP) - A Saudi prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center who was suspected of trying to join the 9/11 hijackers has been sent back to his home country for treatment for mental illness, the Department of Defense said Monday.Mohammad Ahmad al-Qahtani was flown back to Saudi Arabia, to a treatment facility, from the U.S.
base in Cuba after a review board including military and intelligence officials concluded he could be safely released after 20 years in custody.The 46-year-old prisoner has suffered from mental illness, including schizophrenia, since childhood, according to medical examinations and records obtained by his lawyers.
The U.S. dropped plans to try him after a Bush administration legal official concluded he had been tortured at Guantanamo.The FBI late Saturday released a newly declassified document related to logistical support given to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The document details contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the U.S. but does not provide proof that senior Saudi government officials were complicit in the plot.With his release, there are now 38 prisoners left at the detention center.