Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Arabic: محمدو ولد الصلاحي) (born December 21, 1970) is a Mauritanian who was detained at Guantánamo Bay detention camp without charge from 2002 until his release on October 17, 2016.Slahi wrote a memoir in 2005 while imprisoned, which the U.S. government declassified in 2012 with numerous redactions. The memoir was published as Guantánamo Diary in January 2015 and became an international bestseller. Salahi is the first detainee to publish a memoir while imprisoned. He was prohibited from receiving a copy of his published book while imprisoned. Salhi wrote four other books whilst in detention, one of which he describes as being "about finding happiness in a hopeless place", but he has not been allowed to access these books since being removed from Guantanamo. Salahi was held under the authority of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF-AT), enacted on September 18, 2001. The U.S. government alleged he was part of al Qaeda at the time of his arrest in November 2001. Salahi traveled from his home in Germany to Afghanistan in December 1990 "to support the mujahideen." At that time, the mujahideen in Afghanistan were attempting to topple the communist government of Mohammad Najibullah. The United States also supported the mujahideen against Najibullah. Salahi trained in an al Qaeda camp and swore bayat to the organization in March 1991. He returned to Germany soon after, but traveled back to Afghanistan for two months in early 1992. Salahi said that, after leaving Afghanistan the second time, he "severed all ties with ... al-Qaeda." The U.S. government maintains that Slahi "recruited for al-Qaeda and provided it with other support" since then.Salahi lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from November 1999 to January 2000, during which the millennium attack plots were thwarted. Salahi was suspected of involvement in the attempted LAX bombing and was investigated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Due to the scrutiny, Salahi returned to live in Mauritania, where he was questioned and cleared of involvement. After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. again was interested in Salahi. He turned himself in to Mauritanian authorities for questioning about the millennium plot on November 20, 2001. He was detained for seven days and questioned by Mauritanian officers and by agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Then the CIA transported him to a Jordanian prison with its extraordinary rendition program; he was held for eight months. Slahi said he was tortured by the Jordanians. After being flown to Afghanistan and held for two weeks, he was transferred to military custody and the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba on August 4, 2002.Salahi was subjected to sleep deprivation, isolation, temperature extremes, beatings and sexual humiliation at Guantánamo. In one documented incident, he was blindfolded and taken out to sea in a boat for a mock execution. Lt. Col Stuart Couch refused to prosecute Slahi in a Military Commission in 2003. He said that "Salahi's incriminating statements—the core of the government's case—had been taken through torture, rendering them inadmissible under U.S. and international law."In 2010, Judge James Robertson granted a writ of habeas corpus, ordering Salahi to be released on March 22. In his unclassified opinion, Judge Robertson wrote: "... associations alone are not enough, of course, to make detention lawful." The Department of Justice appealed the decision. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the ruling and remanded the case to the District Court on November 5, 2010, for further factual findings. The District Court never held the second habeas hearing. On July 14, 2016, Salahi was approved by a Periodic Review Board for release from detention. Salahi was freed and returned to Mauritania on October 17, 2016; he was imprisoned at Guantánamo for over fourteen years.