Released Gitmo Terrorist Helped Kill 7 Iraqis

From those champions of human rights at the Associated Press:

US: Ex-Guantanamo prisoner carried out Iraq suicide attack

By BEN FOX Associated Press Writer

05/07/2008

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—A Kuwaiti who had been imprisoned in Guantanamo for more than 3 1/2 years carried out a recent suicide attack in Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi took part in one of three suicide bomb attacks last month in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman.

It appears to be the first time someone who was held at the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba has carried out a suicide attack, said a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.

Al-Ajmi, 29, was transferred in 2005 to Kuwait, where the government was supposed to ensure he would not pose a threat. In May 2006, a Kuwaiti court acquitted him and four other former Guantanamo prisoners of terrorism charges.

Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, citing a cousin of al-Ajmi, last week reported that he had carried out a suicide attack, but the U.S. military could not confirm it until Wednesday.

Rye said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that al-Ajmi’s family has confirmed his death and that authorities determined he entered Iraq through Syria.

“It is unknown what motivated him to leave Kuwait and go to Iraq,” Rye said. “His family members reportedly were shocked to hear he had conducted a suicide bombing.”

Three suicide car bombers targeted Iraqi security forces, killing at least seven people and wounding 28 in the northern city of Mosul, local officials said. It was not yet known which involved al-Ajmi.

Military documents previously released to AP show that al-Ajmi was “constantly in trouble” while in Guantanamo and held in disciplinary blocks during his detention. He also allegedly told officials in August 2004 that “he now is a jihadist, an enemy combatant, and that he will kill as many Americans as he possibly can.”

Tom Wilner, a lawyer who represented Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, said al-Ajmi had a broken arm during one of their meetings at the base in Cuba and that he alleged he had been injured by guards who interrupted him while he prayed.

Wilner called the alleged suicide attack a “tragedy” that could have been avoided with court hearings for prisoners held at Guananamo, where the U.S. now holds about 270 men.

“The lack of a process results in tragic mistakes on both sides,” the lawyer said.

American officials have said in the past that more than a dozen former Guantanamo prisoners engaged in hostilities against U.S. forces or its allies, an assertion that critics have challenged.

Now that this has been confirmed by the US, we can surely expect to see this story this story bruited on the front page of the New York Times above the fold as a cautionary tale.

Any minute now.

“The lack of a process results in tragic mistakes on both sides,” the lawyer said.

Right.

Here is the self-same all-seeing, all-knowing Mr. Wilner explaining what “great guys” his terrorist clients are just two years ago:

The Talking Dog: Of your Kuwaiti national clients, I understand that a number have been released, and they have some legal issues pending back in Kuwait?

Thomas Wilner: Six have been released to Kuwait. Kuwait will not hold anyone more than a limited amount of time without charging them under their own laws. They can be prosecuted there more easily than here, but there still has to be some evidence worthy of prosecution. And they cannot be convicted without a fair trial. All are on bail, awaiting trial, and based on what we know, we would expect them all to be acquitted.

By the way, there is no rhyme or reason as to why those six are released and the other six are still held. It’s supposedly based on classified evidence, but again, there seems no rhyme or reason.

For example, one still held at Guanatnamo [sic], Abdullah Al Kandari, is a great guy, and a member of Kuwait’s national volleyball team… he is held because supposedly an alias of his name appeared on a hard drive two years after he was detained! He has no alias…

He was also accused of wearing a Casio watch which they say terrorists wore…. though such a watch was also worn by the military’s own Muslim chaplain, Mr. Yee. And Omar Amin was alleged to be in Bosnia… well, he was in Bosnia, helping out as head of the Bosnian national relief agency.

[Editing [sic] note: Since the interview, it appears that at least five Kuwaitis previously held at Guantanamo and released to Kuwait have been acquitted by a Kuwaiti court.]

Maybe Mr. Wilner should be turned over to the families of those killed by one of his innocent lambs.

Or at the very least he should provide them some “blood money.”

(Thanks to Cigarskunk for the heads up.)

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