Family of Sudanese accused of al-Qaida war crimes tells newspaper he was calm, hadn’t been in touch since 1996

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Feb 25, 2004 (AP) — The family of a Sudanese man charged by the U.S. military with war crimes conspiracy said he was a calm man who led a normal life, a daily newspaper reported Wednesday.

A younger brother of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi told the independent Al-Sahafa that the family had not heard from him since 1996 and was shocked to learn he was being held at Guantanamo Bay and would face a U.S. military tribunal.

“When his father heard about his news on TV, he hugged the TV and cried. We all cried,” the brother, Abdallah, was quoted as saying. The family learned about the charges on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon charged that al Qosi, one of more than 600 terror suspects held at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was an al-Qaida accountant and bodyguard to Osama bin Laden.

Born in 1960 in Atbara, 350 kilometers (215 miles) north of Khartoum, al Qosi was “calm and aloof,” his family told Al-Sahafa.

“He lived a very normal childhood and he played football in the quarter, he intermingled with the children in the quarter. He led a normal life,” his brother was quoted as saying.

When the news came on Al-Jazeera, the only one who recognized al Qosi was his father, who said he would know him “even if his eyes were closed,” the paper reported.

On Wednesday, family and friends refused to talk to local and international media, fearing their comments could harm al Qosi before the tribunal.

Also charged Tuesday was Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, of Yemen, who the Pentagon said was a propagandist for bin Laden. The two will face the first U.S. military tribunal since World War II and could face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted.

The men are alleged to have trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon’s list of charges makes no mention of either man carrying out or planning any terrorist attack.