Moroccan freed from Guantánamo now out of jail in homeland

A former Guantánamo Bay prisoner who was jailed again after returning to Morocco in September has been released, but still waits to learn whether he will be charged with “conspiring against national security.”

Younis Abdurrahman Chekkouri, 46, spent 13 years in Guantánamo without charges. The hearing on the charges in Morocco is due to resume on Feb. 23, following multiple postponements.

Chekkouri’s lawyer, Khalil Idrissi, said his provisional release on Thursday is “a positive sign.”

He was captured by Pakistan in December 2001 as he fled Afghanistan with other suspected al-Qaida fighters and turned over to the U.S.

Chekkouri’s U.S. lawyers with human rights group Reprieve say there were assurances between Morocco and the U.S. that he wouldn’t be held more than 72 hours — something Moroccan officials later denied. He was held by the U.S. as Detainee 197 until his release.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Moroccan freed from Guantánamo now out of jail in homeland."