Guantanamo
Uruguay more wary of Guantanamo prisoner transfer
Uruguay more wary of Guantanamo prisoner transfer
A periodic review board has recommended that Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda, a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo since 2002, be transferred to his home country. Jihadists on Twitter celebrated the ruling before it was released to the public.
Lahcen Ikassrien, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, was arrested earlier this month in Spain. Leaked State Department cables and a threat assessment authored by Joint Task Force Guantanamo link Ikassrien to an al Qaeda cell run by one of Osama bin Laden’s most trusted operatives in pre-9/11 Europe.
The Taliban has released a statement on the prisoner exchange that freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The Taliban says that its five “prominent” leaders have been freed in exchange for an American soldier, and that it did not participate in direct negotiations with the US to complete the swap.
Ali Ahmad Mohamed al Razihi is one of the 48 detainees President Obama’s Guantanamo Review Task Force said should be held in indefinite military detention. But a Periodic Review Board has now recommended that he be transferred to his home country of Yemen.
Feroz Ali Abbasi was once held at Guantanamo and US officials have accused him of agreeing to take part in al Qaeda’s attacks against the West. He was transferred to Britain in 2005, but his story is a key part of the case against Abu Hamza al Masri, whose trial began this week in New York.
Ibrahim Bin Shakaran, a Moroccan who spent more than three years at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility before being freed, has been killed while leading Sham al Islam in Latakia. Bin Shakaran had run a recruiting network for Abu Musab al Zarqawi after being released by the US.
Earlier this month, a review board responsible for evaluating the status of Guantanamo detainees determined that a Yemeni held in Cuba since early 2002 should remain in custody. According to a leaked threat assessment, the detainee was slated to be a hijacker on 9/11 before al Qaeda canceled his part of the operation.
More than one year after the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, a former Guantanamo detainee remains a key suspect.
An ex-Guantanamo detainee, Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifah, has reportedly traveled from Bahrain to join the jihad in Syria. According to a leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo threat assessment, Sheikh Salman had ties to senior al Qaeda and Taliban officials prior to his detention in Pakistan and transfer to Guantanamo.
Measure would return more Guantanamo detainees to home countries
Both detainees were approved for transfer “subject to appropriate security measures” by President Obama’s Guantanamo Review Task Force. Previously, Joint Task Force Guantanamo deemed both detainees “high” risks to the US and its allies and recommended that they be retained in US custody.
The secret diaries of Gitmo detainee Abu Zubaydah
FOIA suit reveals Guantánamo’s ‘indefinite detainees’
Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane, an ex-Gitmo detainee, has reportedly been killed while fighting in Syria. Abderrahmane was allegedly a member of an al Qaeda-linked group prior to his detention in late 2001. Authorities at Guantanamo deemed him a “high” risk to the US and its allies.
The Obama administration has released a list of 55 Guantanamo detainees who have been approved for transfer, but remain in custody. The Long War Journal finds that 34 of the 55 detainees listed were previously deemed “high risk(s)” by Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
An ex-Gitmo detainee named Adnan al Sayegh has reportedly turned himself into Saudi authorities. Al Sayegh was a member of al Qaeda’s 55th Arab Brigade, which fought alongside the Taliban in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. He joined al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula after his release from Guantanamo.
Ibrahim al Qosi served Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda for years in a variety of capacities. Leaked and declassified files portray him as an experienced combat veteran who fought in Chechnya and Afghanistan. As a courier, he may have delivered money to the operatives who attempted to kill Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 1995.
High Peace Council Talks with Pakistan on Prisoner Transfer
An audio message from Guantanamo detainee Fayiz al Kandari to the Syrian people was reportedly released online. US officials have identified al Kandari as an al Qaeda propagandist who was close to Osama bin Laden.
House approves $642.5 billion defense bill
The Guantánamo Docket
The Obama administration is considering repatriating some Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan as part of a diplomatic effort to engage the Taliban. Four senior, high-risk, commanders are thought to be at the top of the list.
With no end in sight, Guantanamo work goes on
Congress, White House spar over Guantanamo records
During congressional testimony, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that the estimated recidivist rate for ex-Gitmo detainees has risen to 27 percent; 161 ex-Gitmo detainees are now either “confirmed” or “suspected” recidivists.
Attorney general and senator clash on where to try terror suspects
Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees allowed to see leaked files
Guantanamo Bay detainees’ family members may be allowed to visit
Classified files offer new insights into detainees