U.S. aware of reports on Sudanese ex-Guantanamo detainee joining al-Qaeda in Yemen
December 10, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The United States said it is aware but could not confirm reports that a former Sudanese detainee of the notorious Guantanamo prison has joined the al-Qaeda chapter in Yemen more than three years after being released.
Al-Qosi has been held at Guantanamo since 2002. He sealed a plea agreement by which he served only two of the eight years sentence before being repatriated to Sudan in 2012.
This week, he was shown in a video titled “Guardians of Shar’ia,” with three other al-Qaeda commanders discussing the terror group’s policy of encouraging attacks against the West by individuals and small cells.
A slide in the video recounted al-Qosi history with al-Qaeda which stated that he joined the “mujahideen” in Yemen in December 2014.
The White House spokesman Josh Earnest said they are aware of the report.
“Obviously, any report about a former GitMo detainee re-engaging in the fight would be source of significant concern, something that we would take quite seriously,” Earnest told reporters on Thursday.
“Based on what we know so far, more than 90% of those transferred from Guantanamo Bay have not re-engaged in the fight. But we are certainly paying close attention, even if we find unconfirmed reports about those who may have,” he added.
The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) said it takes “any incidence of re-engagement very seriously” according to Fox News.
The Sudanese government did not comment on the report but it is likely to be embarrassed by it.
In 2010, Khartoum made a written pledge that it will place its citizens released from Guantanamo in a rehabilitation program and closely monitor them to ensure their “de-radicalization”, according to documents published by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) at the time.
The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) said that it has “developed a standard process for individuals repatriated to Sudan from abroad through extradition or other means”.
NISS agents would receive the freed Guantanamo detainee at the airport and take him to a secure location where he would undergo extensive rehabilitation program that involves education, job skills training, marriage counseling and de-radicalization counseling by moderate Islamic sheiks and scholars.
If the ex-detainee successfully completes the program he is then released, placed in a job and directed to only attend NISS approved mosques.
The spy agency would continue to monitor the individual through a surveillance team and informants to ensure that “no longer [adheres] to a radical ideology”. The monitoring would include the ex-detainee’s email and phone. The agency said its program is “85% effective.”
Al-Qosi’s flight raises further questions on the ability or willingness of the NISS to put its hand around radical elements operating in the country.
The flow of Sudanese youngsters- both males and females- to join ISIS has become a recurrent event this year with authorities in Khartoum seemingly unable to stop it.
The list of Sudanese ISIS recruits included the daughter of former foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq who flew to Syria via Turkey with 17 others. Her father at the time reportedly accused circles in the state of facilitating her departure.
ISIS infiltration into Sudan among the youths has become known last March after British media outlets confirmed that nine medical students from Sudanese origins entered Syria via Turkey to work in hospitals under the control of ISIS.
Last October, the ministry of interior in Khartoum announced that about 70 Sudanese both males and females have went on to join the ISIS franchises both in Libya and Syria.
(ST)