AFGHAN RELEASED FROM GITMO

The United States on Friday complied with a federal court order and released a former Afghan militiaman from detention in Guantanamo Bay, in a case that reflects the changing political realities of Afghanistan.

Assadullah Haroon Gul, who is in his 40s, was held for 15 years at the military prison under the name Haroon al-Afghani and was never charged with any war crimes.

A U.S. Air Force plane carrying Haroon departed from Guantanamo Bay on Thursday and delivered him to Qatar, which has long served as go-between on U.S. interests with the Taliban. Qatari officials then handed Haroon over to Taliban government representatives in Doha, according to a senior U.S. official.

Soon after, Afghan government media released images of Haroon being greeted by Taliban officials in Qatar.

A Qatari aircraft was to transport both the prisoner and the Taliban envoys to Kabul, Afghanistan.

When Afghan forces allied with the United States captured Haroon in 2007, he was considered a commander of the Hezb-i-Islami militia, which fought alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Then, in 2016, the militia made peace with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, a U.S. ally, casting doubt on whether Haroon could legally be held as part of an enemy force at Guantanamo Bay. By last year, the Ghani government had filed a petition in U.S. court seeking his return.

A U.S. federal judge ruled that his continuing detention was unlawful, and the transfer was approved by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who sent notice to Congress of the pending release last month.