DOD announces Mujahid cleared for release
U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Defense announced Guantanamo detainee Mahmoud Abd al-Aziz al Mujahid has been cleared for release:
"We remain seriously concerned that this Administration seems to be basing its terrorist detention decisions more on a misguided promise to close Guantanamo than on our national security interests. After at least three previous reviews, Mahmoud Abd al-Aziz al Mujahid, who reportedly was tied to Osama bin Laden and trained in al Qaeda camps, was determined to be too dangerous to transfer. The Administration owes the American people a justifiable explanation as to why they continue to release, or clear for release, from Guantanamo Bay terrorists who have sought to harm and kill Americans."