Abdullah Tabarak Ahmad
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| Abdullah Tabarak Ahmad | |
|---|---|
| Born: | December 12, 1955  - Casablanca, Morocco |
| Detained at: | Guantanamo Bay camp |
| Alias(s): | Abdallah Tabarak |
| ID number: | 56 |
| Alleged to be a member of: |  al-Qaeda |
| Conviction(s): | Alleged to have been one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. |
| Status | Released and living in Morocco |
| Occupation: | former Moroccan transit worker[1] |
| Children: | Daughter Asia, married a top al Qaeda operations commander, Abu Feraj Libi Son, Omar, fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001 and was captured by Afghan allies of the Americans. [1] |
Abdullah Tabarak Ahmad (Guantanamo detainee ID is 56) is a citizen of Morocco, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[2]
The Department of Defense reports that Ahmad was born on December 12, 1955, in Casablanca, Morocco.
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[edit] Allegations
Tabarak is alleged to have been one of Osama bin Laden's guards.[3] He is alleged to have volunteered to have taken bin Laden's satellite phone, in order to sacrifice himself, by diverting the attention of US authorities, allowing bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora.[4]
[edit] Access denied
The Red Cross reported that Tabarak was one of the detainees that they were not allowed access to.[5] A memo from a meeting held on October 9, 2003 summarizing a meeting between General Geoffrey Miller and his staff and Vincent Cassard of the International Committee of the Red Cross (IRCR), acknowledged that camp authorities were not permitting the ICRC to have access to Ahmad, due to "military necessity".[6]
[edit] Release to Morocco
In August 2004 Abdullah Tabarak Ahmad was released from Guantanamo to Morocco police custody where he was then released four months later on bail.[7][1][8][9] Security analysts puzzled over the release as camp commander General Geoffrey Miller on February 2, 2004 told the Red Cross that Tabarak was the sole remaining detainee they would not be allowed access to and the Moroccan authorities described him as the emir of Guantanamo.
[edit] December 15, 2001 capture
Tabarak was captured on December 15, 2001 or December 16, 2001, together with approximately thirty other Arabs trying to cross the Afghan-Pakistan border.[10] Tabarak was described as one of four "major prizes" among these Arab captives -- a follower of Osama bin Laden, who had worked on his farm in Sudan, and followed him to Afghanistan. The other three men, Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, Ibrahim al-Qosi and Mohammed al-Qahtani were all to face charges before Guantanamo military commissions. Tabarak, on the other hand, was among the first captives to be repatriated. Historian Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, speculated as to whether Tabarak's early release was a tacit admission that Tabarak had played a more peripheral role than first imagined.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Al Qaeda Detainee's Mysterious Release: Moroccan Spoke Of Aiding Bin Laden During 2001 Escape', Washington Post, January 29, 2006
- ^ OARDEC (May 15, 2006). List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
- ^ "Morocco: U.S. Hands Over 5 Guantánamo Suspects", New York Times, August 3, 2004. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ Captive helped trick US while bin Laden escaped, Sydney Morning Herald, January 22, 2003
- ^ Camp X-ray memos tell of life in the cages, Sydney Morning Herald, June 14, 2004
- ^ ICRC Meeting with MG Miller on 09 Oct 2003 (.pdf), Department of Defense, October 9, 2003
- ^ Judge releases 'Bin Laden guard', BBC, December 21, 2004
- ^ A trial without a case: Moroccan Ex-Guantanamo detainees' hearing postponed to March 7, Morocco Times, February 23, 2005[dead link – history]
- ^ Guantanamo sends Moroccans home, BBC, August 4, 2004
- ^ Andy Worthington (October 2007). The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison. Pluto Press, pages 40-41. ISBN 0745326658. “Four of them -- Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, Ibrahim al-Qosi, Abdullah Tabarak and Mohammed al-Qahtani -- were regarded as major prizes, although it was apparent none of them had held leadership positions in al-Qaeda.”
