Kuwaiti Detainee Repatriated from Guantanamo Bay

A Guantanamo Bay inmate has been transferred from the U.S. military prison back to his home country of Kuwait, the Pentagon announced Friday, bringing the prison's remaining population down to 104.

"The Department of Defense announced today the repatriation of Faez Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of the state of Kuwait," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The U.S. military and intelligence agencies had "determined continued law of war detention of al-Kandari does not remain necessary," and that al-Kandari was no longer considered a significant threat to U.S. security.

According to his leaked prison file, published by the New York Times, 40-year-old Al-Kandari was a "committed member" of al-Qaida and was an influential religious figure for the group's fighters in Afghanistan.

He was initially captured in December 2001, and sent to Guantanamo in May the following year. 

President Barack Obama pledged to shut Guantanamo when he took office in 2009, but his efforts have been repeatedly thwarted by Congress.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last month approved the transfer of 17 low-risk detainees from Guantanamo, and two of these were released Wednesday. 

In all, 45 inmates have been approved for transfer and the Pentagon is trying to find countries to take them. Many are from Yemen and cannot go back there given the country's collapse into civil war.

Generally, an inmate is subject to monitoring and rehabilitation once he arrives in a host country.

Since 2002, a total of 779 detainees have been held at Guantanamo in connection with America's "war on terror."

Inmates are kept without recourse to regular U.S. legal processes and some likely will die in prison without ever being convicted of a crime.