Biden releases 11 prisoners including bin Laden’s ‘bodyguards’ who were captured after 9/11 from Guantanamo Bay
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A RAFT of prisoners, including two suspected bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden, has been released from the notorious Guantanamo Bay lockup. They were freed from the Cuban prison on Monday as part of a covert operation that saw them fly to Oman. Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi, an alleged Al Qaeda fighter, was among those released.
![[Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi is an alleged Al Qaeda fighter]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000962105060.jpg?strip=all&w=515)
Defense department officials said he worked within Bin Laden’s security team, according to a file from 2016. Officials believed he “probably trained” with Al Qaeda militants but were unsure if he was involved in combat. They warned that Alwi still had an extremist mindset based on his statements.
![[Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi was a suspected bodyguard for Bin Laden]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/al-sharabi-accused-us-government-962105057.jpg?strip=all&w=342)
Suhayl Abdul Anam al Sharabi, who is also suspected of being a bodyguard for Bin Laden, has also been released. Officials claimed al Sharabi may have been involved in an aborted 9/11 hijacking plot in southwest Asia, according to his detainee profile from 2020.
![[There are only 15 prisoners left at Gitmo]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/2004-guantanamo-bay-cuba-april-633312053.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Al Sharabi had been holed up at Gitmo since May 2002. It means that there are only 15 prisoners remaining at Gitmo. Three inmates can be transferred, while another three will be able to have their status reviewed. Two others have been convicted and sentenced.
It's unknown if Biden plans to free the remaining prisoners before he leaves office on January 20. In August, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, revealed he wanted to close down the lockup. "That’s still something that the president wants to do and get done," she said at the time.
