Yahya Samil Al Suwaymil Al Sulami

Yahya Samil Al Suwaymil Al Sulami is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.^[1] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 66.

Combatant Status Review

Al Sulami was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.^[2] A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The memo accused him of the following:^[3][3]

a. The detainee is as al Qaida operative:

1. The detainee states he traveled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan via Pakistan to teach the Koran to non-Arabs.
2. The detainee was identified as having special mission training (explosives, assassination, etc) and possessed a computer disc showing this training.
3. The detainee was identified as being in a group of 30 Usama Bin Laden bodyguards and drivers captured by the Pakistani military while fleeing Afghanistan.
4. The group of 30 were told the best thing they could tell US Forces when interrogated was they were in Afghanistan to teach the Koran.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.

1. The detainee was identified as the Emir of a group of 10-15 fighters guardying a river crossing leading to the Tora Bora Camp.
2. The detainee was identified as firing a weapon while at a guard post between Tora Bora and Jalalabad.

Repatriation

Repatriated to Saudi custody, with fifteen other men, on July 16, 2007.^[4][5] Historian Andy Worthington wrote:

Al-Silami was one of 30 detainees accused of being Osama bin Laden's bodyguards in a notorious example of confessions obtained through torture. The man who made the allegation -- and later retracted his "confession" -- was Mohammed al Qahtani, an alleged "20th hijacker" for the 9/11 attacks, who was subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques" for several months at the end of 2002.

References