Muhammed Murdi Issa Al Zahrani is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba from August 5, 2002, until November 22, 2014.

[6] His transfer stirred controversy because he had been characterized as a "forever prisoner", one too innocent to be charged with a war crime, who was also considered too dangerous to release.

[7] Originally the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention.

[10][11] In September 2007, the Department of Justice published dossiers of unclassified documents arising from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 179 captives.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed.

[11] Mohammed Zahrani and Saad Al Qahtani were listed as captives who were still in detention in Guantanamo, who were requesting having their habeas petition re-instated.

On April 25, 2011, whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts.

On January 22, 2009, shortly after he took office, President Barack Obama issued three executive orders directed at the detention of captives at Guantanamo.