Former "Rehabilitated" Gitmo Detainee Becomes Al-Qaeda Chief

Great. A former Gitmo detainee has become a leader of Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch.
Said Ali al-Shihri passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen. Al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in the deadly bombing of the US embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September.

Funny, this was reported by The New York Times, the official paper of Gitmo detainees:

The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

His status was announced in an Internet statement by the militant group and was confirmed by an American counterterrorism official.

“They’re one and the same guy,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity because he was discussing an intelligence analysis. “He returned to Saudi Arabia in 2007, but his movements to Yemen remain unclear.”

The development came as Republican legislators criticized the plan to close the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp in the absence of any measures for dealing with current detainees. But it also helps explain why the new administration wants to move cautiously, taking time to work out a plan to cope with the complications.

Almost half the camp’s remaining detainees are Yemenis, and efforts to repatriate them depend in part on the creation of a Yemeni rehabilitation program — partly financed by the United States — similar to the Saudi one. Saudi Arabia has claimed that no graduate of its program has returned to terrorism.

Of course, Al-Shihri is not the first Gitmo detainee to return to a life of terror…
At least 61 Gitmo detainees have returned to terrorism after their release.

Former Gitmo detainee Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi recently exploded in Iraq.

Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi was released from Gitmo in November 2005.

The WaPo reported that Ajmi left a lengthy martyrdom audio recording before his death. Ajmi implored people to take part in suicide bombings and to attack Americans. He blew himself up in Mosul in the summer of 2008 and was able to take a few Iraqis with him.

Then there is Monhammed Nayim Farouq:

Monhammed Nayim Farouq from Afghanistan, is named on a “most wanted” poster issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was released in July 2003 but quickly renewed his association with Taliban and al-Qaida members and has since become re-involved in anti-Coalition militant activity.

And, of course, there are the other terrorists who after leaving Club Gitmo went out and attacked the Russian pipeline, the Russian city of Nalchik, Pakistani forces, Morocco, etc.

Again, there are at least 61 former Gitmo detainees who returned to terror.
Barack Obama wants to close Gitmo.

Previously On Released Gitmo Detainees:
Gitmo Detainees Re-Arrested in Russia
Former Gitmo Prisoner Arrested for Terrorism in Moscow
Three Former Gitmo Detainees Held in Morocco
Former Gitmo Inmate Involved in Russian Terror Attack on Nalchik
Camel-Riding Former Gitmo Detainee Blows Himself Up
Former Gitmo Detainee Re-Arrested in Pakistan
Seven Percent of Gitmo Detainees Return to Battlefield.
Former Club Gitmo Detainee Carries Out Suicide Mission in Iraq
McClatchy: Gitmo Turned Innocent Afghans Into Terrorists
Loony Left Blog “Think Progress” Makes Terrible A$$ of Themselves
Pentagon: 61 Gitmo Grads Returned to Terror

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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Thanks for sharing!