Mohammed Jayed Sebai

Mohammed Jayed Sebai 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 319. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on April 1, 1983, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Combatant Status Review

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for his tribunal. The memo accused him of the following:^[2]

a. The detainee was member of the Taliban.

1. The detainee is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who traveled to Pakistan and then to a Taliban training camp in Afghanistan in August 2001.
2. Detainee was chauffered from Quetta, Pakistan, to Taliban guest house in Kandahar.
3. Detainee learned how to shoot the Kalishnikov rifle and PK machine gun at a Taliban training camp.
4. Detainee was issued a Kalishnikov and ammunition.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the United States and its coalition partners.

1. Detainee traveled to Tora Bora with other Jihad/Taliban fighters.
2. Detainee spent 1 - 2 months in the Tora Bora mountains.
3. Detainee stated that killing innocent women and children is a legitimate way for Muslims to wage Jihad against the United States.

Administrative Review Board

Detainees whose Combatant Status Review Tribunal labeled them "enemy combatants" were scheduled for annual Administrative Review Board hearings. These hearings were designed to assess the threat a detainee may pose if released or transferred, and whether there are other factors that warrant his continued detention.^[3]

Summary of Evidence memo

A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Mohammed Jayed Sebai's Administrative Review Board, on 1 September 2005.^[4] The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention.

The following primary factors favor continued detention

a. Commitment

1. After hearing a fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jihrin regarding support to the Taliban, the detainee decided to go to Afghanistan. A facilitator provided the detainee a passport, 5,000 Riyals, and an airplane ticket to Karachi, Pakistan.
2. The detainee and his facilitator stayed in a Taliban guesthouse in Karachi.
3. The detainee and his facilitator traveled to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where they stayed one week at another Taliban guesthouse.
4. After completing training, the detianee and his facilitator moved to Kabul. Soon after learning about the attack on the World Trade Center, they both were moved to the front lines to fight the Northern Alliance.
5. The detainee and his facilitator retreated to Kabul. From there, the detainee took a bus with 30 people to Jalalabad where he stayed for three weeks at a guesthouse supervised by an Afghani.
6. After three weeks in Jalalabad, the detainee and the others with him were ordered to head to the Tora Bora Mountains, where he stayed for one to two months. While in the mountains they were bombed from aircraft. The detainee claims he left his money and passport in a bunker that was destroyed by the bombs.
7. After two weeks in bunkers at an Arab camp in the mountains, the detainee and approximately one hundred other Arabs walked for about six days to the Pakistani border. Once there, a group of Pakistanis claiming to be taking them to a better place instead led them to a jail. His group was taken the next morning to another jail in Peshawar.

b. Training

1. The detainee attended a training camp approximately one hour from Kandahar that was run by an Afghan named Abdel Qudos. There were about 200 people training and living at the camp while the detainee was there. The detainee was trained on the PK and Kalashnikov rifles, but no other weapons.
2. Abdul Qudos was an al Qaida leader who had over 500 al Qaida fighters under his command in the Tora Bora region as of 15 December 2001.

c. Connections/Associations

1. The detainee's name and family's contact number are on a list of 84 al Qaida and Taliban fighters captured when they crossed the border into Pakistan from Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, on 14 December 2001.
2. A name similar to the detainee's was found on a chart listing the names of captured Mujahidin. The name was listed with the telephone number 96654127255. The information was found on a hard drive associated with a senior al Qaida member, and was seized during joint raids in Pakistan.
3. The detainee's name, alias, and family contact information (including the contact telephone number) were found on a computer file recovered during joint raids against al Qaida associated safe houses. According to the file, three mujahidin were among a group who had come to Afghanistan in December 2001 but who had not completed their training and therefore were not ready to fight in the war.
4. The detainee's name and alias was found on a document listing 324 Arabic names, aliases and nationalities recovered from safe house raids associated with suspected al Qaida in Karachi, Pakistan. He was listed in possession of a Saudi passport.

d. Intent

1. The detainee stated that acts of terrorism are a legitimate way for a Muslim to wage jihad against the United States, even if innocent women and children are killed. He stated that he believes that Muslim jihadists will wipe out the government of the United States within the next 20 years.
2. The detainee said all non-Muslims are infidels and the victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11th are collateral damage of a war initiated by the United States.
3. The detainee was unable to guarantee that he would not participated in future jihads. He stated that he would certainly go to jihad to protect his family, homeland and religion. He also stated that there are some fatwas that require the participation of all Muslims.

e. Other Relevant Data

As part of a caravan of busses, the detainee overheard people on the back of the bus talking about attacking the Pakistani guards. He then heard shouting and everyone hid under their seats, just before the bus rolled over and gunfire erupted. After the commotion ended, they were taken to a jail in Kohad. The detainee was eventually turned over to the Americans at an unknown airport.

The following primary factors favor release or transfer

In early July 2002, a foreign government identified the detainee as being of low law enforcement and low intelligence value.

Transcript

There is no record that Sebai participated in his Board hearing.

Board recommendations

In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official.^[5][6] His Board's recommendation was unanimous. His Board's actual recommendation was redacted.

His Board relied on intelligence assessments from the FBI, the CIA, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs.^[5] His Board "...determined that detainee 319 continues to be a threat to the United States and its allies.".^[6]

Repatriation

According to The Saudi Repatriates Report Al-Subai'i was one of fifteen men repatriated on May 19, 2006.^[7][8]

References

External links

• The Guantánamo Files: Website Extras (4) – Escape to Pakistan (The Saudis) Andy Worthington