Published: April 24, 2011
Released From Guantánamo, They Took Up Arms
Released From Guantánamo,
They Took Up Arms
The New York Times identified 42 former detainees who engaged in militant activity — against various foes — after their release. This chart shows when they were held at Guantánamo, their nationality and whether military analysts had rated them a “high risk” before their transfer.
Details by Country »The Obama administration says that of the 600 men who were transferred out of the Guantánamo Bay prison over the years, about 450 have not aroused any further suspicions. But 81 others have been “confirmed” as having taken part in terrorist or insurgent activity, and 69 more are suspected of it. (About 67 of those 150 men have already been killed or rearrested.) The government has not named all of the former detainees in question.
None of detainees released were determined to pose a threat to the U.S.; requesting their extradition, the Russian government said it would incarcerate the prisoners and share any intelligence obtained with the U.S. These five detainees did fight — in Chechnya, against Russia.
Of the dozen “high risk” ex-detainees known to have engaged in terrorist activity after their transfer, a majority were Saudis who were repatriated in 2006-07 under a diplomatic deal the Bush administration struck with Saudi Arabia. The arrangement allowed 106 Saudi detainees to leave Cuba and go through a rehabilitation program. They included 46 who had been rated high-risk, of whom eight were identified as later engaging in terrorism. Perhaps the most notorious is Sa’eed al-Shihri, who has become a leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch. Still, most of those who went back have apparently led quiet lives since.
Privately, according to leaked diplomatic cables, American officials complained that Afghanistan released its detainees before their trials,¬†including 29 from Guantánamo.
According to diplomatic cables and Pentagon reports, both American and Yemeni officials worried about releasing prisoners to Yemen because of its poor security conditions.
Kuwait has perhaps the most notorious of the detainees who engaged in terrorist acts after Guantánamo, Abdallah Saleh Ali al-Ajmi. After his release, Mr. Ajmi carried out a suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq, in April 2008, killing several Iraqi soldiers.
Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda bin Qumu, eventually joined the rebels in Libya.