Released Guantánamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohammed was returned to the UK Feb. 23 after being held for nearly seven years. Mohamed had immigrated from Ethiopia to the UK prior to his arrest, and it is not yet known whether he will be permitted to remain in the country, whose government he has repeatedly accused of being involved in his alleged torture. Mohamed recently ended a hunger strike, and British authorities declared him healthy enough to travel last week. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that his return comes in response to a longstanding request for the return of UK residents held at Guantánamo.

US Army Sgt. Michael Leahy Jr. was convicted Feb. 20 on charges stemming from the 2007 deaths of four Iraqi detainees, and was given a life sentence at a court-martial at a US military base in Germany. Leahy will have a possibility of parole after being dishonorably discharged, having his rank reduced to private, and forfeiting his pay. The medic from Illinois had admitted to shooting one of the prisoners but pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, and obstruction of justice, claiming his lack of sleep and long-term presence in a war zone had made him unable to reason properly.

The Iraqi government has reopened the prison formerly called Abu Ghraib, promising to operate the facility by international standards and allow inspections by humanitarian groups. In a tour for members of the media Feb. 21, officials said they hoped to temper the strong feelings many Iraqis hold toward the prison with a new name, Baghdad Central Prison, and renovations including fresh paint, exercise equipment, and a library. The facility currently holds 300 prisoners, but officials expect to reach a capacity more than 12,000 once improvements are complete.

A report prepared for the Pentagon by US Navy Admiral Patrick Walsh concluded that the Guantánamo Bay detention center meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions, according to Feb. 20 statements from US officials who have reviewed the document. The report, which has not been released, was prepared by the Pentagon in response to President Barack Obama's Jan. 22 executive order requiring the closure of the facility within one year. The report is believed to contain recommendations to alleviate solitary conditions in the prison by increasing the ability of detainees to speak with each other and congregate in communal spaces. The report also approved certain controversial tactics used at the facility, including the force-feeding of inmates engaged in hunger strikes, and the placement of high-risk detainees in isolation.

The Obama administration told a federal judge Feb. 20 that US military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing an argument of former President Bush's legal team. In a two-sentence filing, the Justice Department said that the new administration had reviewed its position in a case brought by prisoners at the US Air Force base at Bagram, just outside Kabul, and concluded that the Bush policy was correct. "Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position," wrote Michael F. Hertz, acting assistant attorney general.

A bomb tore through a crowded market in Cairo Feb. 22, killing at least four people, including a French tourist. The attack, which was apparently targeted on Westerners, took place beside the 12th century al-Hussein mosque, a notable tourist attraction in the old quarter of Egypt's capital. About 17 were wounded in the explosion, including 11 French visitors and one Austrian. (The Telegraph, Feb. 22)

On Feb. 18, judicial authorities in Iran carried out lashing sentences against labor leaders Shiva Kheirabadi and Sosuan Razani for their participation in May Day events last year. Razani received a 9-month suspended sentence and 70 lashes, while Kheirabadi received a 4-month suspended sentence and 15 lashes. On Feb. 21, similar sentences were handed down to two other labor activists in Sanandaj, Abdullah Khani and Qaleb Hosseini. Khani was sentenced 40 lashes and 91 days in prison, and Hosseini was sentenced to 50 lashes and six months in prison. The lashings were carried out immediately, and they were both transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison.

Ten new immigrants from Yemen arrived in Israel Feb. 19 in a special operation of the Jewish Agency, including Said Ben Yisrael—a leader of the Jewish community in the city of Raida, where local Jews are facing a wave of harassment. Ben Yisrael, who came with his wife and seven children, has suffered death threats, and a grenade was thrown into his courtyard several weeks ago. Approximately 280 Jews are now living in Yemen—230 in Raida and about 50 in the capital of Sana'a. Many Jews fled Sana'a about a year ago due to harassment by a group supposedly connected to al-Qaeda.