Freed Guantánamo detainee still in Morocco jail

Authorities have again postponed a hearing on whether to charge a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner who was turned over to Morocco last year after the U.S. withdrew allegations he had ties to an Islamic militant group.

Younis Abdurrahman Chekkouri has been imprisoned without charge since he was returned to Morocco last September. Moroccan judges have repeatedly postponed hearings on whether to charge the 46-year-old, with no reason given.

Chekkouri was captured by Pakistan in December 2001 as he fled Afghanistan with other suspected al-Qaida fighters. He was turned over to the United States, which held him for 13 years without charge.

A new hearing in the case was set for Feb. 9.

As of this week, the Pentagon held 91 captives at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba, 34 of them approved for release with security arrangements that satisfy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. At the time Chekkouri left, there were 115 captives at the prison.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Freed Guantánamo detainee still in Morocco jail."