USA

US Transfers Saudi Prisoner From Guantanamo Bay Prison

FILE - A U.S. soldier stands in the turret of a vehicle with a machine gun, left, as a guard looks out from a tower at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, March 30, 2010.

The United States has released another inmate from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Muhammed Murdi Issa al-Zahrani, who was transferred to Saudi Arabia, spent 12 years at the prison for allegedly fighting for al-Qaida.

The Pentagon said the Saudi inmate was approved for release last month after military, justice and homeland security officials determined he was no longer a threat to the United States.

Zahrani will take part in a rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia.

He is the seventh Guantanamo inmate to be transferred from the prison in the past three weeks; 142 terror suspects and extremists remain behind bars.

President Barack Obama has promised to shut down the prison, but Congress has rebuffed his efforts.