British resident Shaker Aamer released from Guantanamo prison

Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, was released to the UK on Friday after being detained for 13 years.

His release followed that of Ahmed Ould Abd al-Aziz, 45, of Mauritania, who was flown back to his home on Wednesday. Aziz was brought to Guantanamo in 2002 after Pakistani security forces captured him and his wife at a suspected al-Qaida safe house in Karachi. He has a 15-year-old son.

Shaker Aamer of the UK was held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 13 years before his release in October 2015. Photo from Department of Defense/MCT via Getty Images

Aamer, 48, was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and held at the prison in Cuba since 2002 but was never charged or put on trial. Authorities contend he was training a Taliban unit and had met al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Aamer, who alleges he was tortured at the prison, said he was in Afghanistan doing charity work.

His wife and three teenage children, one of whom was born a day after Aamer was brought to Guantanamo, helped organize protests in London calling for his release. A delegation of British parliament members met with Obama administration officials and U.S. lawmakers in May to urge them to reunite Aamer with his family.

Delays were caused by disputes over whether to send the Saudi native, who is a longtime British resident, to his country of origin or where his family lived. Defense Secretary Ash Carter notified Congress in September that he had approved Aamer’s release to the UK.

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