Abdul Razzaq (Taliban leader in Khandahar)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- There are multiple individuals transliterated as some variation of Abdul Razzaq.
Abdul Razzaq was identified as a leading Taliban Commander in the Khandahar area of Afghanistan during the testimony of several captives held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1][2]
Their association with Abdul Razzaq was one of the justifications offered for their detention.
[edit] Association with Guantanamo detainee Esmatulla
Guantanamo detainee Esmatulla's testimony made many references to Abdul Razzaq:[1]
- Esmatulla bought a guest house, in Khandahar, in the late 1990s. Taliban soldiers kept trying to shake him down for bribes, and/or tell him that he should surrender his property to them, claiming it was built on government land. When Esmatulla appealed to Gul Muhammed, the previous owner, for help, Muhammed introduced him to Abdul Razzaq, a local Taliban Commander.
- Razzaq agreed to write a letter for Esmatulla, on official Taliban letterhead, telling other Taliban soldiers to leave him alone, because Esmatulla was a Taliban soldier himself.
- Razzaq made a verbal agreement with Esmatulla, where Esmatulla agreed to serve under one of Razzaq's officers. Razzaq didn't insist that Esmatulla fulfill his commitment right away. And he didn't insist that Esmatulla fulfill his commitment in one continuous hitch. In the event Esmatulla didn't fulfill his commitment until 2000 and 2001. And he served his hitch in periods of about four months at a time.
- Esmatulla testified that when the leader of the Northern Alliance, Shah Massoud, was assassinated by al Qaeda suicide bombers masquerading as journalists, Razzaq released all his men, and retired to Pakistan himself. Massoud's assassination occurred approximately a week prior to al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
- Esmatalla testified that he took his family to Pakistan during the winter of 2002, and had a couple of chance encounters, in a park, with Razzaq.
- Razzaq asked Esmatulla if he knew anyone who was traveling to Afghanistan anytime soon. He wanted someone to deliver a letter to someone named Sangar Rihad.
- Esmatulla, and his cousin Nasrullah, were captured at a checkpoint, by Oruzgan Governor Jan Mohammed, and his possession of the letter from Abdul Razzaq to Sangar Rihad seemed to play a key role in the USA's decision to send him to Guantanamo.
[edit] Association with Guantanamo detainee Nasrullah
The allegations against Nasrullah state that he was captured delivering a letter with a "Taliban leader" [2] They also state that he was served as Adbul Razzaq's secretary.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Esmatulla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 90-106
- ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Nasrullah's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 35-56
