From Deseret News archives:

US judge orders release of young Gitmo detainee

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 2:36 p.m. MST
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WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered the military to release a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was arrested in Pakistan when he was 14.

Mohamed el-Gharani was one of the first people to be sent to the U.S. military prison in Cuba in 2002, where he has been held ever since.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled on Wednesday that el-Gharani, who is also known as Yousuf and is now 21, is not an enemy combatant and must be released.

El-Gharani's lawyer says he was accused of being a member of al-Qaida in 1998, when he would have been 11 years old.

El-Gharani was arrested at a mosque in Pakistan by police when he was 14. He was then turned over to U.S. forces.

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