Yemeni citizen Abdul Aziz Al-Suweydi may not be the only former resident of the American prison in Cuba who will continue his life in Montenegro, "Vijesti" has learned.
Interlocutors from the state administration, who wished to remain anonymous, said that discussions were held between the Montenegrin and American authorities about the arrival of two to five prisoners from Guantánamo.
"There was always talk of a maximum of two people coming, but we could choose between several," said one of the sources from the state administration.
Another interlocutor said that there was a plan for five prisoners to come to Montenegro.
He said that the Montenegrin services refused to receive two of them, and that two of them refused to come to Montenegro.
"For now, Al-Suweydi was the only one who answered to us and we answered to him," that source told "Vijesti".
Al-Suweydi arrived in Montenegro from Guantanamo last week as part of a special program launched by the US government to close the notorious prison at the military base there. He spent more than 13 years in Guantanamo, on suspicion of being a trainer for Osama bin Laden's bombers in a training camp in Afghanistan.
Last Wednesday, when the Pentagon announced the arrival of Al-Suweydi in Montenegro and the Egyptian Tariq Mahmoud Ahmed al Sawah in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he has family, the American media reported that the third detainee Muhammed Bavazir had agreed, then suddenly refused to board the plane to Europe. The final destination was supposed to be "one Balkan state", but it is not clear whether it should have come to Montenegro.
US Embassy spokesman Mark Weinberg said he had no comment on "specific numbers".
"All I can say is that the decision on the transfer of detainees was made only after detailed, specific discussions with the receiving country," Weinberg told "Vijesta".
Al-Suweydi's resocialization has already begun, and soon a house in Podgorica will be bought and it will be his home while he lives here, "Vijesti" learns.
The money for the house and all other expenses of his life in Montenegro are financed from the budget of the US Government. The "Vijesti" source said that the selection of real estate for the Yemeni is underway and that "the first days of his stay in Montenegro are going well."
Al-Suweydia was considered a "high-risk detainee" by US authorities eight years ago. In a secret document of the US Department of Defense from 2008 published by Wikileaks, it is written that their office in Guantanamo determined that Al-Suweydi, arrested as a member of Al Qaeda, "would likely pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies."
Weinberg said last week that the decision was made six years ago that Al-Suweydi could be released from prison after it was considered by six American institutions - the State Department, the Departments of Defense, Justice and National Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Montenegrin Government announced that the prisoner from Guantánamo does not pose a danger to the state and citizens, and referred to the assessments of the American and Montenegrin security services.
It was also announced that the citizens will not bear the costs of his stay in Montenegro and that Al-Suweydi, after a certain time, will be able to freely choose the country in which he wants to stay.
American officials announced that the release of the prisoners represents progress towards the achievement of US President Barack Obama's goal - closing the prison that was built after the Al Qaeda terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington in 2001.
In 2003, there were almost 680 suspected terrorists in Guantanamo, while now there are 91 prisoners there. Human rights organizations have argued for years that the detention in Guantanamo, the treatment of prisoners, including torture, is questionable under international law, and especially that they have been held there for years without formal indictment.
Constantly under the eye of the security services
With Al-Suweydi at all times is a team of people from several state institutions in charge of his resocialization and security, said one of the interlocutors of "Vijesti".
"The team includes people from different departments and each of them has their own task in relation to the plan of his resocialization. Of course, that team also includes people from the security services. And their engagement was paid for from the budget of the US Government", said another source of "Vijesti".
The new citizen of Montenegro gets to know the new country and the way of life in it every day and, according to "Vijesti" sources, he is very satisfied so far.
One of the sources of "Vijesti" claims that the resocialization of the Yemeni, if everything goes according to plan, will last several months and that during that period he will be constantly with the team that was formed for him.
After that, he will be able to move where he wants and hang out with whomever he wants.
"This, of course, does not mean that the security services will not constantly keep an eye on him," said the "Vijesti" source.
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