Dealing a blow to the credibility of President Obama’s plan to close down the Guantánamo Bay detention center, a former terror detainee has resurfaced in Yemen.
New York Times via Michelle Malkin -
The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.
His status was announced in an Internet statement by the militant group and was confirmed by an American counterterrorism official.
“They’re one and the same guy,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity because he was discussing an intelligence analysis. “
According to the Summary of Evidence memo prepared for him, al Shihri traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 with 1,900 US dollars he claiming that he planned on distributing to the Red Crescent charity Organization. Instead, he used the money to finance the travel for other fighters traveling from Bahrain to Afghanistan. He was also accused of facilitaing the travel of other fighters from Iran and Saudis.
And why did we let him go?
…under a heading describing reasons for Mr. Shihri’s possible release from Guantánamo, the documents say he claimed that he traveled to Iran “to purchase carpets for his store” in Saudi Arabia. They also say that he denied knowledge of any terrorists or terrorist activities, and that he “related that if released, he would like to return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, wherein he would reunite with his family.”
“The detainee stated he would attempt to work at his family’s furniture store if it is still in business,” the documents say.
Guess what? Terrorists lie.
Good luck with that To Do list, President Obama.
Read Ed Morrissey’s opinion here.
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1 Comment
January 23, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Obama is smart on so many levels for ordering the closure of Guantanamo. It has been a long time coming