Lebanon today released jailed US citizen Amer Fakhoury, suffering from stage 4 cancer, after Washington threatened to move ahead with sanctions.

Lebanese authorities had detained Fakhoury for more than six months, charging him with torturing inmates at the notorious Khiam prison when he served in the Israel-backed South Lebanon Army during the civil war. Fakhoury’s family has denied the allegations. They acknowledge that he worked at the prison, but claim that he did not have contact with inmates.

“Anytime a US citizen is wrongfully detained by a foreign government, we must use every tool at our disposal to free them,” said Jeanne Shaheen, Democratic senator from Fakhoury’s home state of New Hampshire. “I have long supported close ties between the United States and Lebanon and hope this is a first step to repairing relations.”

Why it matters: Shaheen teamed with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the Donald Trump administration to craft a sanctions bill aimed at securing Fakhoury's release. The measure would have sanctioned Lebanese government, judicial and military officials responsible for the wrongful detention of any US citizen.