Hassan Ghul

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Allegedly an al-Qaeda agent, Hassan Ghul (Arabic: حسان غول‎) has also been identified as a member of Ansar al-Islam[1]. His nationality has been reported as Yemeni,[2][3] Pakistani[4][3] or Egyptian.[5][6]

Ghul has been stated to have been as lowly as a "courier" who ran packages and delivered letters for al-Qaeda members[7], to holding such high ranks as "top lieutenant", "second-in-command" or "trusted emissary" of everyone from Osama bin Laden[8] to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed[9] to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi[10]

Ghul was first mentioned in the 9/11 Commission, where he was stated to have led three people, including Mushabib al-Hamlan, to a waypoint controlled by Abu Zubaydah.[11]

He was captured on January 23 2004[12] by Kurdish police forces, possibly associated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan[13], at a checkpoint near Kalar, at the Iranian border after police sent a fax to American CIA officials to confirm his photograph. There are contradicting claims that he was caught entering Iraq to bring al-Zarqawi money and bomb schematics[14] or that he was caught leaving Iraq bringing al-Zarqawi's progress report on successful suicide bombings into Iran.[5]

Ghul was carrying a Flash drive and two CDs, one allegedly including a 17-page progress report believed to have been written by al-Zarqawi, claiming responsibility for suicide attacks in Iraq. US Intelligence officials have contradicted the accepted story, stating that the progress report was instead found in an abandoned safehouse in Baghdad.[15][16] In addition, the US military provided the media with "photocopies of the original handwritten Arabic letter" which were then translated, muddying the claim that it had been a computer document.[17] A notebook in his satchel also revealed a number of names and phone numbers of suspected associates.[18]

Kurdish forces immediately turned Ghul over to the American military, and he was interrogated while still in the country.[15][19] Although he may have been cooperative with the military interrogation, his questioning revealed little.[7] [20]

[edit] Statements about his capture

Following his capture, FOX News reported that he had been an al-Qaeda member since the very beginning of the group, at least ten years earlier, and was widely known as The Gatekeeper "in terrorist circles", although no corroboration or other sources have supported these claims.[21] There have been similarly unreferenced suggestions in the media that Ghul played a role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa.[19][21]

Three days after his capture, Ghul was mentioned in a speech by President George W. Bush:

Just yesterday -- not yesterday -- just last week, we made further progress in making America more secure when a fellow named Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq. Hassan Ghul was a -- reported directly to Khalid Shaik Muhammad, who was the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks. He was a killer. He was moving money and messages around South Asia and the Middle East to other al Qaeda leaders. He was a part of this network of haters that we're dismantling.

Our intelligence officers did a good job. He was captured in Iraq where he was helping al Qaeda to put pressure on our troops. There is one less enemy we have to worry about with the capture of Hassan Ghul.

Six days after his capture, General Ricardo Sanchez referred to Ghul stating "The capture of Ghul is pretty strong proof that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold [in Iraq] to continue their murderous campaigns"[22] CIA Director George Tenet mentioned Ghul in his testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as an al-Qaeda member who would "never again threaten the American people", after allegedly being "sent to case Iraq for an expanded al-QA`ida presence there"[23] Columnist William Safire claimed it was a "smoking gun" that proved a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.[24]

Since then, Ghul has been a ghost detainee, his very existence unacknowledged. In June 2007, he was one of 39 people cited in a joint release by HRW, Cageprisoners, Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York University School of Law as prisoners who have not been accounted for, and are likely held in secret CIA Black sites.

Some, including Hani al-Sibai, have suggested that "Hassan Ghul" never really existed as the US administration and military have made it appear, and it was simply a random name on a passport.[25]

The Al-Hayat newspaper also published a piece, trying to determine who the US was claiming to have captured - quoting an Egyptian expert on al-Zawahiri's grop, that the only known member named Hassan was dead, having been killed in Afghanistan.[25] They also published a piece speculating that the 2004 Irbil bombings may have been retribution for the Kurdish role in capturing Ghul.[26]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Leader's profile: Hassan Ghul. Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.
  2. ^ Jason Burke. "Nine killed in bomb attack on Iraq police", The Observer, Sunday February 1, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  3. ^ a b Barbara Slavin. "Success on war goals open to interpretation", USA Today, March 16, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  4. ^ Dan Murphy. "'Kurdish Sept. 11' boosts resolve", Christian Science Monitor, February 5, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  5. ^ a b "AIM Report: Breaking America's Resolve", Accuracy in Media, May 19, 2004. 
  6. ^ Who is Hasan Ghul?. Informed Comment (Friday, January 30, 2004).
  7. ^ a b "Truck bomb kills at least 50 in Iraq", USA Today, February 10, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  8. ^ Walter Pincus. "Terror Suspect's Ambitions Worry U.S. Officials: Zarqawi May Be Looking Beyond Iraq", Washington Post, Wednesday, March 3, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  9. ^ Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez (Thursday January 29, 2004). Coalition Provisional Authority briefing with Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez. Coalition Provisional Authority.
  10. ^ James Gordon Meek (February 23, 2004). Rummy Points To Al Qaeda In Iraq Carnage. Global Security.
  11. ^ 911 Commission: Notes to Chapter 7, 911 Commission
  12. ^ List of “Ghost Prisoners” Possibly in CIA Custody. Human Rights Watch.
  13. ^ Backgrounder: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Defend Democracy (May 20, 2004).
  14. ^ Andrea Mitchell. "Al-Qaida captive in Iraq talking: U.S. intelligence: Ghul was likely bearing money, plans for bombings", NBC News, January 29, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-10. 
  15. ^ a b "Emerging face of al-Qaeda's man in Iraq", Sydney Morning Herald, February 11, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  16. ^ Dexter Filkins. "U.S. Says Files Seek Qaeda Aid In Iraq Conflict", New York Times, February 9, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  17. ^ Cesar Soriano. "Iraqi leaders: Memo details al-Qaeda plans", USA Today, June 15, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  18. ^ Brian Bennett, Vivienne Walt. "Fields of Jihad", Time (magazine), Monday, February 23, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  19. ^ a b Bill Gertz. "U.S., Iraqis capture al Qaeda 'facilitator'", Washington Times, January 24, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  20. ^ Toby Dodge. Iraq after Brahimi: sovereignty, democracy or chaos?. Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
  21. ^ a b "Suspected Al Qaeda Operatives Nabbed in Iraq", Fox News, Saturday, January 24, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  22. ^ "U.S. Commander Says Qaeda Working in Iraq", New York Times, January 29, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-11. 
  23. ^ [https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2004/dci_speech_02142004.html Testimony of Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]
  24. ^ Safire, William, New York Times Editorial, "Found: A Smoking Gun, February 11 2004
  25. ^ a b Juan Cole. "Who is Hasan Ghul?", Informed Comment, January 30, 2004. 
  26. ^ http://www.juancolebeta2.com/archives/2004/02/were_the_irbil_bombings_reveng.html
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High Value Captives in the War on Terror
Captives transferred to
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
from
black sites
Unaccounted-for captives