Missing Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Reappears in Venezuela

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) —

A resettled former Guantanamo prisoner who disappeared last month in Uruguay, setting off alarm bells in neighboring countries and recriminations in Washington, has reappeared in Venezuela, an official said Wednesday.

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa told The Associated Press that Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab showed up at his country’s consulate in Caracas. Consulate officials refused to provide information or entry to AP journalists gathered outside.

Dhiab reportedly had last been seen in Chuy, a small city on the Uruguay-Brazil border that is home to an Arab community. Residents said he visited the makeshift mosque of the local Arab club where he prayed and slept before he was reported missing.

Dhiab is one of six former Guantanamo prisoners who were resettled in Uruguay after being released by U.S. authorities in 2014, invited by then President Jose Mujica as a humanitarian gesture.

U.S. lawmakers trying to block President Barack Obama from closing the detention center recently scolded his administration for losing track of Dhiab. The U.S. envoy in Montevideo also expressed concerns about the lack of information on his whereabouts.

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