Pentagon Releases List of Gitmo Detainees Who Returned to Terrorism

By Huma Khan
@humaik
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ABC News’ Luis Martinez reports: A Pentagon report released today confirms that 14 percent of the 540 detainees — or one in seven — who were released from the detainee center Guantanamo Bay have been known or suspected of returning to terrorist activities. "Based on a comprehensive review of available information as of mid-March 2009, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported 14 percent as the overall rate of former Guantanamo detainees confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist activities. Of the more than 530 Guantanamo detainees transferred from Department of Defense custody to Guantanamo Bay, 27 were confirmed and 47 were suspected of reengaging in terrorist activity. Between December 2008 and March 2009, nine detainees were added to the confirmed list, six of whom were previously on the suspected list," the report states. The full document can be viewed HERE. "Various former Guantanamo detainees are known to have reengaged in terrorist activity associated with the al- Qaeda network, and have been arrested for reengaging in terrorist activities including facilitating the travel of terrorist into war zones, providing funds to al-Qaida, and supporting and associating with known terrorists," the report states. Two of those are Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shihri, who was repatriated to Saudi Arabia in November 2007 and Mazin Slaih Musaid al-Alawi al-Awfi, also repatriated to Saudi Arabia in July 2007. On Jan. 24, a19-minute video was relased showing their leadership within the newly established al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Many of these detainees are nationals of Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Russia. Last week, President Obama defended his decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within a year’s time, saying it only helped fuel terrorist activities. "Instead of serving as a tool to counter terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained," the president said last Thursday. "So the record is clear: Rather than keeping us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That’s why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign, and that is why I ordered it closed within one year."