[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Wednesday that Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Fouad Al Rabiah has been transferred [press release] to the control of the Kuwaiti government. Al Rabiah, a Kuwaiti national, had been held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly eight years under suspicion of aiding al Qaeda and the Taliban. The transfer came after a judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] in September granted [order, PDF] Al Rabiah's habeas corpus petition and ordered his release [JURIST report]. According to the DOJ, the "transfer was carried out under an arrangement between the United States and the government of Kuwait. The United States will continue to consult with the government of Kuwait regarding this individual."

Al Rabiah was one of three Kuwaiti nationals remaining at Guantanamo out of 12 who were detained there. In October, the DOJ announced that Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee Khaled Al-Mutairi had been returned to his home country [JURIST report]. The US government alleged that Al-Mutairi had fought against American troops in Afghanistan, but in his almost eight years at the facility, no charges were ever filed. Al-Mutairi's release was ordered [JURIST report] by federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the DC District Court when she granted his petition [opinion, PDF] for habeas corpus in July. In September, Kollar-Kotelly denied the petition [JURIST report] of Kuwaiti detainee Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, who admitted to traveling to Afghanistan to meet with the Taliban. The other Kuwaiti remaining at Guantanamo [Miami Herald report] is Fayiz al Kandari, who allegedly trained with al Qaeda.