US sends Guantanamo prisoner back home to Kuwait

MIAMI, FL -- A spokesman for the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says a Kuwaiti who has been held there for nearly 13 years in on his way back home.

Navy Capt. Thomas Gresback says Fawzi al-Odah left for Kuwait on Wednesday. His transfer brings the detention center population to 148.

The 37-year-old al-Odah has been held without charge at the base in Cuba since February 2002. U.S. officials believed he underwent terrorist training in Afghanistan and may have fought alongside the al-Qaida or the Taliban.

A review board determined in July he had only a low level of training and did not have a leadership position in either group. He will be required to participate in a militant rehabilitation program in Kuwait.

There is one Kuwaiti still held at Guantanamo.