Omar Abu Bakr

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Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr is a citizen of Libya, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba.[1] Abu Bakr's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 695. American intelligence analysts estimate that Abu Bakr was born in 1972 in Al Bayda [sic] , Libya

Contents

[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal

To comply with a Freedom of Information Act request, during the winter and spring of 2005, the Department of Defense released 507 memoranda. Those 507 memoranda each contained the allegations against a single detainee, prepared for their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The detainee's name and ID numbers were redacted from all but one of the memoranda. However 169 of the memoranda had the detainee's ID hand-written on the top right hand of the first page corner. When the Department of Defense complied with a court order, and released official lists of the detainee's names and ID numbers it was possible to identify who those 169 were written about. Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr was one of those 169 detainees.[2]

[edit] Allegations

a. The detainee is associated with al Qaida:
  1. The detainee voluntarily traveled from Libya to Peshawar, Pakistan and on to Jalalabad, Afghanistan in 1998.
  2. The detainee stayed in safehouses in Jalalabad, Afghanistan from approximately 1998 to 2001.
  3. The detainee admitted that he joined the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
  4. The detainee stayed at a LIFG safe house on at least two occasions while in Afghanistan between 1998 and 1999.
  5. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a listed terrorist organization with black market contacts, is used by al Qaida to obtain travel documents.
  6. Subsequent to the bombing of Jalalabad, the detainee traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan where he stayed until February 2002.
  7. The detainee was known to assist Usama Bin Ladin in purchasing weapons.
  8. The detainee was arrested by Pakistani authorities along with approximately 16 others at a safehouse in February 2002.
b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States or its coalition partners:
  1. The detainee attended a LIFG training camp in Afghanistan.
  2. The detainee received training on the Kalishnokov [sic] rifle, pistol, rocket propelled grenade launcher, and anti-aircraft weapons.
  3. The detainee established a training camp for the Mujahidin in Afghanistan during the summer of 2001.
  4. The detainee was a high-level member and military trainer at the camp in Afghanistan for members of the LIFG.
  5. The detainee was a military leader of Arabs and fought the Northern Alliance near Taloqan, Afghanistan in 2001.
  6. The detainne met with Taliban leaders to plan military operations.
  7. Subsequent to 11 September 2001, the detainee left the front line in Afghanistan and traveled to Majim Al Jihad where Usama Bin Ladin directed his group to travel to the caves of Tora Bora.

[edit] Statement

Abu Bakr did not attend his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.[3] But his Personal Representative reported to his Tribunal:

"Sir he had one short statement. When I spoke to him about being returned to his home country, He [sic] said, 'I would rather be in the worst American jail than be a minister in my country. I want to stay here.'"

[edit] References

  1. ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
  2. ^ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - October 12, 2004 - page 266
  3. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - page 16