Tortured Guantánamo Detainee is Freed in Belize – CarolRosenberg 2/2/23

Source: NYTimes.com

Majid Khan, a Pakistani citizen who attended high school in Maryland, finished his sentence last year.

A small Central American nation, known for its barrier reef and ecotourism, has taken in a former terrorist turned U.S. government informant whose tale of torture by the C.I.A. moved a military jury at Guantánamo Bay to urge the Pentagon to grant him leniency.

U.S. forces released Majid Shoukat Khan, 42, to the custody of the authorities in Belize on Thursday after a two-hour flight from the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

It was the first resettlement of a detainee since President Barack Obama’s administration and culminated months of secret diplomacy. All other prisoners released in the intervening years were repatriated. But Mr. Khan, who completed his prison sentence nearly a year ago, had nowhere to go.

“I have been given a second chance in life, and I intend to make the most of it,” Mr. Khan said in a statement in which he pledged to become “a productive, law-abiding member of society.”

“I continue to ask for forgiveness from God and those I have hurt,” he said.

The circumstances of his resettlement were not immediately known. But he was expected to be joined by his wife and teenage daughter, who was born after his capture in Pakistan in 2003….

Read More…