by dailystar.com.lb — BEIRUT: U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday thanked the Lebanese government for helping to return the notorious Israeli-linked former commader and prison governor Amer Fakhoury to the U.S. “Fakhoury is on his way back to the United States after being imprisoned in Lebanon since September 2019 … We are very grateful to the Lebanese government for working with us and we are very proud of his family,” Trump said. Fakhoury was aquitted Monday of charges including torture, murder, attempted murder of inmates, and kidnapping of thousands of Lebanese citizens in south Lebanon’s Khiam prison – a facility he oversaw between 1985 and 2000. At least 10 people died at the prison during Fakhoury’s tenure at Khiam.

The state commissioner to the Military Appeals Court Ghassan Khoury submitted an appeal Tuesday against the Military Tribunal’s decision to acquit Fakhoury. According to the appeal, Fakhoury’s crimes constitute crimes against humanity – one of the four core crimes recognized internationally to not have a statute of limitation. Fakhoury’s indictment had been quashed by the Military Tribunal on grounds that too much time had passed between his alleged acts and the time of trial, as per Lebanon’s statute of limitations. Fakhoury was unable to attend questioning sessions in February for a separate civil case filed against him by former inmates of Khiam. His lawyers claimed his poor health prevented him from attending the sessions. “He’s battling late stage cancer,” Trump said Thursday. “Mr. Fakhoury will now be able to receive the much-needed care and treatment in the United Sates. We’ve been working very hard to get him freed, and he’s finally able to have his entire family at his side.” “American citizen Amer Fakhoury, who has been in detention in Lebanon since September, is returning to the United States … His return comes as a relief to those who have followed the case with grave concern. We are relieved to be able to welcome him back home,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday in a press release.

Fakhoury had been living in the United States since 2001, but was arrested in Sept. 2019 shortly after his return to Lebanon. Much speculation on Lebanese Twitter has been made about U.S. pressure to release Fakhoury after several officals threatened in February to impose sanctions against Lebanese officals involved in his detention. A U.S. Embassy Beirut press spokesperson declined to comment on these allegations when contacted by The Daily Star Thursday.