Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry is a citizen of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 who was held in extrajudicial detention

Extrajudicial detention

Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

The US Department of Defense reports that he was born on December 14, 1984, in
Riyadh

Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...

, Saudi Arabia.

According to the New York Times: "Abdul Salam Ghetan was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and transferred to Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2006."

Age

The Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 asserts that Al Shehry was born on December 14, 1984, in Riyadh. An article by human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith

Clive Stafford Smith

Clive Adrian Stafford Smith OBE is a British [see talk] lawyer who specialises in the areas of civil rights and the death penalty in the United States of America....

, entitled, "The kids of Guantanamo", published on June 15, 2005 stated he was born in April 1987.

Press reports

In January 2005, his family received a letter from al Shehry.
He apologized for his errors in traveling to Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 and asked them to find him a wife. Al Shehry's attorney, Kateb al Shammary

Kateb al Shammary

Kateb al Shammary is a Saudi Arabian lawyer. His clients include a number of those who were, or remain, detained in Camp Delta in the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....

, argues that the fact that his client is seeking a fiance demonstrates his innocence.

Transfer to Saudi Arabia

After more than five years in Guantanamo without ever been charged al Shehry was repatriated to Saudi Arabia on June 25, 2006.

External links

• The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (1) – The Qala-i-Janghi Massacre Andy Worthington
• The Pentagon Can’t Count: 22 Juveniles Held at Guantánamo Andy Worthington