A former al-Qaeda leader extradited to Mauritania in April after being tossed in the calaboosePlease don't kill me!
in Iran in 2002 has been released from custody, his family said Saturday.
Mahfoud Ould Waled was freed Thursday, a family member told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Waled was one of the top muftis (interpreters of Islamic law) with the Taliban when they were in power in Afghanistan.
He was said to be close to al-Qaeda founder the late Osama bin Laden
... who has won the race to that place where we all eventually end up...
, who was killed last year in Pakistain, until the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
According to an expert on the case, Waled argued the attacks were illegal under to Sharia Islamic law.
Waled fled to Iran after the invasion of Afghanistan by U.S. forces in late 2001.
During his detention in Mauritania, Waled met with several foreign delegations, including from the U.S., who wanted to learn more about Islamist motivations, the family member said.
Waled arrived in the Mauritania capital Nouakchott on April 5. According to a Mauritanian security official, his return to the West African nation was permitted after he publicly renounced his jihadist beliefs.
The group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2006, has been active in North Africa for several years, notably in Mauritania, where it has kidnapped several westerners.