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Majid Khan, a Pakistani man who has described in graphic detail his torture by the Central Intelligence Agency in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has been transferred from the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention facility in Cuba to Belize, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Khan, 42, admitted in 2012 to conspiring with members of the al Qaeda Islamist militant organization responsible for the 2001 attacks to commit murder as well as providing material support for terrorism and spying and had been serving as a government witness since, according to U.S. officials.

He was captured in Pakistan and held at an unidentified CIA "black site" from 2003 to 2006 before being placed at the detention camp at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

In a statement issued through his legal team, Khan welcomed what he called a second chance in life.

"I deeply regret the things that I did many years ago, and I have taken responsibility and tried to make up for them. I continue to ask for forgiveness from God and those I have hurt. I am truly sorry," Khan said.

Khan was the first Guantanamo detainee released since last October, leaving 34 detainees - down from a peak of 800 - at the facility, with 20 others already deemed as eligible for transfer to another country, according to U.S. officials.

There were 40 detainees at Guantanamo when President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021. Biden has said he hopes to close the facility. The federal government is barred by law from transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. mainland prisons.

"We remain dedicated to a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population at Guantanamo Bay and ultimately closing the facility," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Khan's transfer was accepted by Belize's Cabinet and paid for by the U.S. government, Belize's Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay said.

"Mr. Khan is not a terrorist. He has fully recanted, accepted responsibilities for his action and asks Allah for forgiveness," Courtenay told a news conference in the Central American country.

Courtenay, who met with Khan upon his arrival in Belize, said the released man is free to live the rest of his life there if he chooses.

In a 39-page statement that Khan read aloud to a U.S. military sentencing commission in 2021, he described his treatment at the CIA site. Khan told of being beaten, subjected to the simulated drowning technique called waterboarding and raped anally by objects.

Khan said he was hung from a beam by his hands for days, naked except for a hood over his head, and that guards there would "throw ice water on my naked body every hour or two and placed a fan to blow directly on me."

He also said he had been deprived of sleep and food, kept isolated and shackled in a cell with music blaring 24 hours a day. This went on for three years, from the time of his arrest in Karachi in 2003 until his 2006 Guantanamo transfer, Khan said.

Established by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects following the 2001 hijacked plane attacks on New York and the Pentagon that killed about 3,000 people, the Guantanamo camp came to symbolize the excesses of the U.S. "war on terror" because of harsh interrogation methods that critics have said amounted to torture.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin notified U.S. lawmakers about his intent to transfer Khan last year, the Pentagon said.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, the legal group representing Khan, welcomed his freedom.

"Belize has done an outstanding job to prepare for his resettlement, and their success serves as a model for other countries to accept men who no one thinks should remain at Guantanamo but who cannot return to their home countries for humanitarian reasons," said Wells Dixon, a lawyer with the group. (Reuters)

Micronesia aims to 'soon' sign an extension of its economic and security pact with the United States, its President David Panuelo said on Friday, a deal seen as important in Washington's efforts to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.

Micronesia is one of three Pacific Island states that has so-called compacts of free association with the United States, which allows Washington exclusive access to airspace and territorial waters in exchange for financial assistance.

"Our negotiation team actually will be in (Washington) D.C. soon where the two governments will likely be signing an MOU for the extension of the economic provisions for another 20 years," Panuelo told reporters on a visit to Tokyo. (Reuters)

The worst flooding in New Zealand's biggest city Auckland is heaping more inflationary pressure and is posing a fresh cost-of-living headache for prime minister Chris Hipkins, who is trying to win back support for his party ahead of elections this year.

Hipkins, who replaced Jacinda Ardern as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party last month amid a backlash over COVID-19 restrictions, rising cost of living and a worsening housing crisis, has his work cut out, analysts and political observers say.

The intense cost-of-living pressures will be a hot-button issue going into the Oct. 14 election, they say, with annual inflation already running at near three decade highs of 7.2%.

"Following the floods a lot of prices will be going up left, right and center. It was the perfect storm and for the government that we have, they are really up against it in terms of the economic questions and the cost of living," said Grant Duncan, a professor at Massey University.

"Inflation is going to be very important in the next election," he said.

Although monetary policy implications are likely to be limited, the floods are “yet another unhelpful inflationary shock,” ANZ said in a note, with many observers warning it will take several months to recover from the significant damage to thousands of houses, roads and vegetable crops.

The central bank has already raised interest rates by 400 basis points since October 2021 in its most aggressive tightening since the cash rate was introduced in 1999, and analysts expect it will treat the floods as a one-off event. Policy rates are still expected to be raised by 50 basis points to 4.75% at the next meeting on Feb. 22.

Food prices were up at more than a three-decade high of 11.3% in December year-on-year, and the flooding in Auckland and much of the upper North Island will add to the overall costs for a range of consumer items from cars to couches and onions, analysts say.

TEST CASE FOR GOVT

The nation's largest opposition party National has criticised Labour's handling of inflation and has pledged to reduce spending.

Hipkins, who took office just 10 days ago, has already refocused his government on providing relief for New Zealanders struggling with inflation.

Polls taken in the days after he was appointed saw the Labour Party enjoy a strong bump in popularity and put them ahead of National for the first time in nearly a year.

But managing the near-term inflation shock from the floods and handling the recovery process will be a test for the government, analysts say. At least 200 houses have become uninhabitable, a thousand more need repairs while landslides and flooding on farms and roads have caused extensive damage.

Infometrics, a New Zealand economics consultancy, is estimating the damage at roughly NZ$470 million, noting that the repair and replacement process will strain supply chains and add to price pressures.

"There is going to be a temporary inflation pressure coming through given that there is high demand on the likes of building materials, possibly vehicles and similar as part of the recovery efforts," said Brad Olsen, chief executive of Infometrics.

Moreover, New Zealand is a long way from Asia where most cars, furnishing and even some construction materials are shipped from, adding to the supply-chain snags yet to fully ease off from the COVID-19 crisis.

“You have to imagine that there's going to be cost pressures generated by such an event. There could be a shortage of materials again. There's definitely a shortage of labour,” said Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr. (Reuters)

A disgraced former South Korean politician, Cho Kuk, was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday for forging documents to facilitate his children's school admissions in a scandal that has deepened political divides and frustrated many young voters.

A star law professor, Cho was a key aide to former President Moon Jae-in and briefly served as a justice minister before resigning and being indicted on a dozen charges, including bribery and document fraud in late 2019.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted Cho of falsifying documents to send his son and daughter to prestigious high schools and universities, and peddling influence to interfere with a corruption investigation involving a Moon confidant.

Cho's downfall dealt a stinging blow to Moon amid voter disillusionment over intensifying inequality and hypocrisy of Moon's government and his progressive Democratic Party, and growing calls for fairness and reform.

It eventually gave rise to incumbent President Yoon Suk-yeol, who then as prosecutor-general investigated Cho and other graft scandals.

Cho, who has denied any wrongdoing, said he would appeal.

"I humbly accept the verdict and I will fight for my innocence in the parts where I was found guilty in the appeals court in a more sincere and honest manner," he told reporters after the ruling.

The court said Cho colluded with his wife, Chung Kyung-shim, also a university professor, in manipulating documents to get their son into a specialised high school and a law school, and daughter into a medical school.

Chung has already received a four-year sentence for the charges and irregularities over family investment, while her daughter's medical school and university cancelled her admission.

The court also imposed fines of 6 million won ($4,900), which it said Cho had taken from his daughter's medical school as bribes in the form of a scholarship.

"He had repeatedly committed crimes of corruption in college admissions for his children for several years using his position as a university professor, so the motive and nature of the crimes are bad, and it seriously undercut social trust in the fairness of the college entrance system," the court said in the ruling.

Cho also faces "heavy liabilities" for abusing his authority as a senior presidential officer to block a normal inspection into suspected misconducts "at the request of the political circle", the court said.

It did not immediately imprison Cho, citing the low chances of him destroying evidence or running away due to the completion of investigations and Chung serving her prison term.

Cho was once seen as a next presidential candidate and the scandal had polarised the country, with many young voters taking to the street calling for sacking him, while his supporters accused prosecutors of politically motivated investigations.

Dozens of protesters from both sides gathered outside the courthouse on Friday, some denouncing Cho and others defending him.

President Yoon's office did not immediately provide comment, but his ruling People Power party urged Cho to apologise for his conviction and exacerbating political strife. (Reuters)