Community | January 23, 2009 | 24 comments

Released detainee now Yemen al-Qaida commander

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_al_qaida

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gaiusfurius

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_al_q...

WASHINGTON – A Saudi militant who was released from Guantanamo Bay after six years of confinement is now a top figure in the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, a U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed Friday.

Said Ali al-Shihri was released in 2007 to the Saudi government for rehabilitation. He re-emerged this week, identified by a militant-leaning Web site as a top deputy in "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," a Yemeni offshoot of the terror group headed by Osama bin Laden.

The Yemeni branch has been implicated in several attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital Sana.

Al-Shihri is one of a small number of deputies in the group, the U.S. counter-terror official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The militant Web site, which referred to al-Shihri under his terror nom de guerre, "Abu Sayyaf al-Shihri," also revealed his Guantanamo prisoner number, 372.

The announcement from the militant site came the same day that President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing the closure of the jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year.

A key question facing Obama's new administration is what to do with the 245 prisoners still confined at Guantanamo. That means finding new detention facilities for hard-core prisoners while trying to determine which detainees are harmless enough to release.
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24 comments // Released detainee now Yemen al-Qaida commander

  • TonyDukes
    • 0
      TonyDukes  

    • I doubt the locked up any Mr. Roger's types or former boy scouts, by mistake. It was the Intel and their known associations that got them there, it would be like trying to pick out which cobra wouldn't bite you if you let it in your house. I'm not willing to risk this on my watch.

      I am glad that Pres Obama left clauses and contigency plans in place for to not, would send out the wrong message.

    • 4 years ago
  • gaiusfurius
  • mohawknation
    • 0
      mohawknation  

    • GUILTY UNTIL NEVER PROVEN GUILTY HUH WUT KINDA GOV DOSE THAT? SOUNDS LIKE TERRORIST TO ME
      AND BOUT THE COMMANDER IF TURE I WOULDN'T BLAME HIM FOR JOINING AFTER HIS TREATMENT

    • 4 years ago
  • cynker
  • ejasun
  • sirach481
  • Katanajon
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • "LMAO."Whic wA didday dOO. simpleton." -- gaiusfurius

      Is that a rebuttal to someone or something, a statement......or a stroke?

    • 4 years ago
  • gaiusfurius
  • gaiusfurius
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • 1) We only have this militant Islamic websites word that this person is the same person who was released. There is no direct evidence that it's actually the same guy.

      2) BUSH released this guy after 6 years. Why would someone as hardcore as Bush release someone? Are we to believe that Bush is soft-hearted and just felt sorry for one of the (allegedly) top terrorist on earth?

      This sounds like militant Islamic propoganda.

      Note the pattern: The Dems are using critical thinking skills to QUESTION the information they are being provided. The Neocons just assume everything they hear is true.

      No wonder that America's enemies have been able to so easily manipulate us for 8 years!

      Osama bin Laden says to Bush, "Don't throw me into that briar patch!"

      And Bush (along with a few million neocons) instantly think, "Ha! That's exactly what we're gonna do!"

      (sigh) Neocons. So easy to manipulate. All you need is a website and internet access and you can radically influence US foreign policy. Or at least that used to be the case under the former President.

      Thank God Obama isn't so easily manipulated by our enemies.

    • 4 years ago
  • kuffar
  • hydrokat
  • cerealforeal
    • 0
      cerealforeal  

    • What do you expect for locking up innocent people in the most horrible prison system for years? My own fire of anti-government has been fueled by a six month, unjust probation sentence. My sentence is nothing nearly imaginable compared to his. Imagine what some guy will do for being locked up in Cuba for years on end. They're breeding terrorist on purpose. These guys never existed a decade ago, is not a little funny how their numbers are increasing as the "fight for terrorism" prolongs. Since there is no more Cold War threat for the USSR to put Americans in fear, they have to produce something so that they can pass legislation. Picking on the Arab world was a smart task by our nation's puppet masers.

    • 4 years ago
  • gaiusfurius
  • hydrokat
  • Buddha2112
    • 0
      Buddha2112  
    • cerealforeal:

      If you don't think we're (the US) in any way responsible, you really need to brush up on your history.

      I have to agree with Cereal on this one. WTF do you expect is going to happen when you implant yourself in someone else's home and build bases and fund sides you 'presumably know nothing about'? No shit they're pissed off! I would be too. What about these guys unjustly detained once 'indefinitely'? If they weren't a threat before, they are now! And can you blame them? I sure as hell wouldn't be extending handshakes and smiles after that shit.

      I really, really, really doubt our Gov't was ignorant of their actions. Look at the genius (albeit Evilness) of our monetary system. You mean to tell me the few guys in power are just doing this shit by chance? Its just a simple mistake?? No way. It is way too convenient, and way too organized to not be planned for a reason we know little about.

    • 4 years ago
  • gaiusfurius
  • pjacobs51
  • RCS
    • 0
      RCS  

    • Well, these people were not locked up in the first place because they were nursery school workers. They belonged to terrorist groups. What did anyone think that they were going to do when they were released?

    • 4 years ago
  • cynker
  • gaiusfurius
  • netstorm2k8
    • 0
      netstorm2k8  

    • Well, if the US had had me in jail for six years, and I considered myself innocent, then I'd have a grudge too.

      Also, when you lock people up together with real muslim extremists, you get more extremists.

    • 4 years ago
  • Dave_Rabbitt
  • gaiusfurius
  • edbr

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