The Pentagon has released a Kenyan prisoner who was held at Guantánamo Bay for nearly 18 years on suspicion he was tied to an affiliate of al-Qaida that plotted attacks against Israeli tourists in East Africa two decades ago.

The prisoner, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, 51, was never charged with a crime.

He was repatriated to the custody of Kenya on Tuesday, three years after a task force of U.S. intelligence officials approved his transfer. The board described him as a well-behaved detainee from a defunct extremist network, al-Qaida of East Africa.

It was the first release from the wartime prison in more than a year. The Defense Department said it notified Congress last month that it had reached an agreement for Bajabu’s repatriation.

The prison housed 40 men when President Joe Biden took office with the goal of reviving the Obama administration’s effort to close it through transfers to other countries.

There are now 29 detainees, including 11 who have been charged with crimes or convicted.

— The New York Times