Khalid Mahomoud Abdul Wahab Al Asmr

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Khalid Mahomoud Abdul Wahab Al Asmr is a citizen of Jordan, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.^[1] Al Asmr's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 589. The Department of Defense reports that Al Asmr was born on December 16, 1963, in Irbid, Jordan.

1 Combatant Status Review Tribunal
2 Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant
3 Notes

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held in a small trailer, the same width, but shorter, than a mobile home. The Tribunal's President sat in the big chair. The detainee sat with their hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor in the white, plastic garden chair. A one way mirror behind the Tribunal President allowed observers to observe clandestinely. In theory the open sessions of the Tribunals were open to the press. Three chairs were reserved for them. In practice the Tribunal only intermittently told the press that Tribunals were being held. And when they did they kept the detainee's identities secret. In practice almost all Tribunals went unobserved.

Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status.

Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant.

Al Asmr chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[2]

[edit] Allegations

The allegations Al Asmr faced during his Tribunal were:

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida:

The detainee arrived in Afghanistan via Pakistan.
The detainee attended the Sheikh Sanif terrorist camp,
The detainee was trained to use the AK-47.
The detainee met Usama Bin Laden.
The detainee worked for the al-Haramayn Organization.
Al-Haramayn is associated with al Qaida.
The detainee attended the al Fand training camp,
The detainee worked for Maktab al Khidmat [sic].
Maktab al Khidmat is on the terrorist exclusion list.
The detainee is associated with Jamat al Tabligh [sic].
Jamat al Tabligh, a Pakistani-based Islamic missionary organization, is being used as a cover to mask travel and activities of terrorists including members of al Qaida.

[edit] Response to the allegations

Al Asmr said he had lived in Pakistan since 1985, had married to Afghani women, and traveled to Afghanistan to visit relatives.
Al Asmr acknowledged attending the Sheikh Saiaf camp -- in 1986. He disputed that it was a terrorist camp. He said he was traveling through Afghanistan to transport blankets and medicine. He felt that he needed to be physically fit. He went to the camp for physical fitness training. Al Asmr said he stayed at the camp just one day. Further, he said that the camp was funded by the USA, and Sheikh Saiaf is not considered a terrorist -- he was currently living openly in Kabul, working for the Hamid Karzai government.
Al Asmr denied going to the Shiekh Saiaf's camp weapons training. He acknowledged sitting in briefly on some AK-47 training -- but for no longer than ten minutes. Further, he disputed that AK-47 training represented terrorism, as practically every home in Afghanistan owned one.
Al Asmr denied ever meeting Osama bin Laden. He acknowledged telling his interrogators that he had once seen Osama bin Laden from a distance. Al Asmr's Personal Representative reminded him that this was in 1987, when Osama bin Laden was an American ally.
Al Asmr denied being an employee of al-Haramayn. He said that he was a businessman, who sold food, and that al Haramain was just another of his customers. They bought food from him, which they then distributed for free.
Al Asmr asked what any American proof that Al Haramain was associated with al Qaida had to do with him.
Al Asmr told his Tribunal that none of his interrogators had ever asked him about the Al Fand training camp. The allegation that he trained there was new to him.
Al Asmr acknowledged working -- indirectly -- for Maktab al Khidmat.

"Yes, I did. I worked indirectly with them. I worked with the Sheik's wife. Sheik Abdalleh Azam, I worked with his wife for an organization called Laddens (ph) Organization. The only reason why I was going there was to get my money. When I was working for that Maktab al Khidmat, it was just a humanitarian effort on my part. I opened up hospitals in the north. We helped the poor and needy people. We delivered some food to them. I was finished with Maktab al Khidmat in January 1992. I was finished with them from point on I had nothing to do with them."
In response to the allegation that Maktab al Khidmat is on the terrorist exclusion list Al Asmr told his Tribunal that the Pakistani government shut the organization down in 1996.
Al Asmr acknowledged being a member of al Tabligh. But he disputed it was a terrorist organization. He said it merely sent volunteers to do good works -- missionary work. His last association with them was in 1996.

[edit] Response to Tribunal Officer's questioning

[edit] Determined not to have been an Enemy Combatant

The Washington Post reports that Al Asmr was one of 38 detainees who was determined not to have been an enemy combatant during his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.^[3] They report that Al Asmr has been released. The Department of Defense refers to these men as No Longer Enemy Combatants.