Khalid Sulayman Jaydh Al Hubayshi

Last updated
Khalid Sulayman Jaydh Al Hubayshi
Born1975 (age 4849)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Detained at  Guantanamo
Other name(s) Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi
ISN 155
Charge(s)No charge (held in extrajudicial detention)
StatusRepatriated

Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi (born 1975) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. [1] Al Hubayshi, who acknowledged some jihadist activity, spent three years in Guantanamo, and further time in Saudi Arabia's al-Ha'ir Prison, prior to graduating from the Saudi jihadist rehabilitation program. [2] [3] Several western journalists have interviewed him, and accepted that he appeared to have successfully reintegrated into the mainstream of Saudi society.

Contents

Background

His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 155. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1975, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He was repatriated from Guantanamo, on July 19, 2006. [3] [4] He was repatriated with two other Saudis. [5] [6] [7] Human Rights Watch reported that he was first held, without charge, in Riyadh's al-Ha'ir prison. He later went through the Saudi jihadist rehabilitation program, and, according to a profile in the Christian Science Monitor , his rehabilitation was a success. [2] He admits that graphic propaganda videos that depicted Bosnian Muslim civilian casualties that he saw when he was a student had triggered his commitment to militant jihadism. He admits he traveled to Chechnya, to fight, and later traveled to Afghanistan. The Christian Science Monitor reported that "on his jihadi travels, he found himself trapped in a life he didn't deeply believe in. He felt he couldn't escape because of his past violations of Saudi law."

In an interview with the Washington Post, he expressed bitterness towards Osama bin Laden, who he felt had betrayed those who had been loyal to him, when he escaped to Pakistan. [3] He condemned al Qaeda's attacks on civilians.

Official status reviews

Originally, the Bush Presidency asserted that captives apprehended in the "war on terror" were not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and could be held indefinitely, without charge, and without an open and transparent review of the justifications for their detention. [8] In 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Rasul v. Bush, that Guantanamo captives were entitled to being informed of the allegations justifying their detention, and were entitled to try to refute them.

Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants

Following the Supreme Court's ruling the United States Department of Defense set up the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants. [8] He had a Combatant Status Review Tribunal convened in 2004. [4] Normally, he should have had an annual Administrative Review Boards hearing convened, to review his status, but his reviews did not take place.

Formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment

On April 25, 2011, whistleblower organization WikiLeaks published formerly secret assessments drafted by Joint Task Force Guantanamo analysts. [9] [10] His recommendation was three pages long and was drafted on January 31, 2004. [11] It was signed by camp commandant Geoffrey D. Miller and recommended that he continued to be detained. [12]

According to Andy Worthington, the author of The Guantanamo Files , his assessment says he acknowledges training at a camp in the Philippines, under Umar Al-Farouq in 1996. [13] Worthington said his file says he and a twin brother traveled to Pakistan in 1997, at the direction of Umar al Faruq, where he contacted Abu Zubaydah, who agreed he could attend the Khaldan training camp—a rival camp to al Qaeda's camp. Worthington said his file says he was jailed for six months when he returned to Pakistan later in 2007, and that he had to use a false passport to travel to Yemen, where a relative of al Faruq smuggled him back into Saudi Arabia. Worthington said his file says for the rest of 1997 through July 2001 he worked for the Saudi electric power authority, returning to Afghanistan with plans to get further training and travel to Chechnya, and that he spent most of the next three months training at the Derunta training camp, in Nangarhar.

Worthington says his file says he was captured near the Pakistan border with four other Arabs on December 14, 2002. [13] The file says US intelligence officials had suspicions about three of his brothers—based on what the file called "sensitive reporting". The file says his twin brother was suspected of involvement "... in a plot to attack US interests in Uzbekistan," The file says two of his elder brothers had traveled to the United States, where one of them had taken flight classes. Further, his file says he was suspected of being related to Khalid lbn Mohammed al-Jihani, who played a role in a suicide bomb plot in Riyadh in 2003.

Repatriation

Khalid was repatriated on July 20, 2005, with two other Saudi captives. [5] [6] The two other men were Salih al-Awshan and Mishal Awad Sayaf Alhabri. According to a Human Rights Watch report, as of May 26, 2006, the three remained held, without charge, in Riyadh's al-Ha'ir prison.

Khalid was widely interviewed after being repatriated, and graduating from the Saudi rehabilitation program. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Al Hubayshi is offered as a success case of the rehabilitation program, who met the Minister of Interior Affairs three times. [14] [15] According to Al Hubayshi, the minister asked him, "Okay you made a mistake ... maybe following the wrong fatwa, being zealous. You are young, and you have been used. We will give you another chance. Are you going to take the chance or be stupid and miss that chance?"

On November 20, 2008, when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, Al Hubayshi was quoted to offer an explanation as to why Ayman Al Zawahiri used racially loaded language to characterize the President-elect. [20] According to the Christian Science Monitor, Zawahiri compared Obama to Malcolm X, and asserted that Obama, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice were the kind of black Americans that Malcolm X would have called "house negroes". The Christian Science Monitor quoted Al Hubayshi explaining that Muslims had hopes that Obama's election would be good for the USA's relationship with the Muslim world, and that this forced Al Zawahiri to try to come up with a criticism.

Khalid Al Hubayshi's Washington Post profile

"I couldn't sleep at night knowing that women were being raped and children slaughtered, just because they were Muslim. I had to do something.

Khalid Sulayman Jaydh Al Hubayshi

Khalid Al Hubayshi was the subject of an article in the Washington Post on March 24, 2008. [3] In the article Al Hubayshi describes receiving training in Afghanistan, living within a broad jihadist community, within Afghanistan, helping to train fighters planning to travel to Chechnya, and an attempt by Osama bin Laden to recruit him to al-Qaeda. He described his long held reservations about al Qaeda. He described declining to be recruited into al Qaeda. He said that after the al-Qaeda attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent American counter-strike on Afghanistan soon afterwards, Afghans blamed all Arabs for the counter-attacks. He ended up fleeing Jalalabad, and ending up digging in, in the Tora Bora region. He described Osama bin Laden's sudden retreat from Tora Bora as a cowardly betrayal. He asserted that the attacks on September 11, 2001, were a mistake because they had targeted civilians. Al Hubayshi is described as a former Guantanamo captive who has re-integrated into the mainstream of Saudi society.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Zubaydah</span> Saudi Arabian Guantanamo detainee

Abu Zubaydah is a Palestinian citizen and alleged terrorist born in Saudi Arabia currently held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He is held under the authority of Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed al-Qahtani</span> Saudi Arabian Guantanamo detainee

Mohammed Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani is a Saudi citizen who was detained as an al-Qaeda operative for 20 years in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba. Qahtani allegedly tried to enter the United States to take part in the September 11 attacks as the 20th hijacker and was due to be onboard United Airlines Flight 93 along with the four other hijackers. He was refused entry due to suspicions that he was trying to illegally immigrate. He was later captured in Afghanistan in the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Faraj al-Libbi</span> Libyan member of al-Qaeda

Abu Faraj al-Libi is an assumed name or nom de guerre of a Libyan alleged to be a senior member of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. His real name is Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi. He was arrested by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on May 2, 2005, in Mardan. Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Special Activities Division and Pakistan's Special Forces.

Abu Musab al-Suri, born Mustafa bin Abd al-Qadir Setmariam Nasar, is a suspected Al-Qaeda member and writer best known for his 1,600-page book The Global Islamic Resistance Call. He is considered by many as 'the most articulate exponent of the modern jihad and its most sophisticated strategist'.

The Khalden training camp was one of the oldest and best-known military training camps in Afghanistan. It was located in the mountains of eastern Paktia Province, near Tora Bora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalid Abdullah Mishal al Mutairi</span> Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee

Khalid Abdullah Mishal al Mutairi, also known as Khalid Hassan, is a Kuwaiti charity worker who was unlawfully detained in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. He was ordered released in August 2009, when it was determined that the law required the American government to prove his guilt, rather than demand al Mutairi prove his innocence. The ruling judge noted that al Mutairi had been "goaded" into making incriminating statements for interrogators, such as confessing alongside Osama bin Laden in 1991, while noting that some of his stories were contradictory.

Mohammed Saghir(also transliterated Mohammed Sanghir) is an elderly Pakistani who was held by the U.S. military in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 143. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1952, in Kohestan, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jabir Jubran Al Fayfi</span> Al-Qaeda terrorist

Jabir Jubran Al Fayfi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantánamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba on allegations he trained and fought with al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Atiq Awayd Al Harbi</span> Saudi Arabian Guantanamo detainee

Mohamed Atiq Awayd Al Harbi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia formerly held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number was 333. The US Department of Defense reports that he was born on July 13, 1973, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Hamoud al-Aqla, commonly known as al-Shu'aybi was a Saudi-born Islamic scholar.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba from August 2002 to May 2018; in May 2018, he was transferred to Saudi Arabia's custody. He was the only detainee held at Guantanamo released during President Donald Trump's administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moath al-Alwi</span> Yemeni prisoner in Guantanamo Bay prison

Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi is a citizen of Yemen, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His detainee ID number is 28. Guantanamo analysts estimated he was born in 1977, in Al Hudaydah, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salem Ahmed Hadi</span> Yemeni former Guantanamo Bay detainee (born 1976)

Salem Ahmed Hadi Bin Kanad is a citizen of Yemen, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His detainee ID number is 131. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports that Hadi was born on January 15, 1976, in Hadhramaut, Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalid al-Zahrani</span> Saudi terrorist and former Guantanamo Bay detainee

A Saudi candidate to become one of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid Saeed Ahmad al-Zahrani was an al-Qaeda member, held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 234. His arrival in Guantanamo is recorded as February 11, 2002. His repatriation is recorded as July 17, 2007. His first interrogation was recorded on April 20, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Rajab Sadiq Abu Ghanim</span>

Mohammed Rajab Sadiq Abu Ghanim was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, for almost fifteen years. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 44. He was eventually transferred to Saudi Arabia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Rahman Shalabi</span>

Abdul Rahman Shalabi is a citizen of Saudi Arabia held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number is 42.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammed Murdi Issa Al Zahrani</span> Saudi Arabian Guantanamo Bay detainee

Muhammed Murdi Issa Al Zahrani is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba from August 5, 2002, until November 22, 2014. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 713. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1969, in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Said Ali al-Shihri</span> Saudi Arabian terrorist

Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (1971–2013) was a Saudi Arabian deputy leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and possibly involved in the kidnappings and murders of foreigners in Yemen. Said Ali al-Shihri was captured at the Durand Line, in December 2001, and was one of the first detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, arriving on 21 January 2002. He was held in extrajudicial detention in American custody for almost six years. Following his repatriation to Saudi custody he was enrolled in a rehabilitation and reintegration program. Following his release, he traveled to Yemen.

The Care Rehabilitation Center is a facility in Saudi Arabia intended to re-integrate former jihadists into the mainstream of Saudi culture. The center is located in a former resort complex, complete with swimming pools, and other recreational facilities.

References

  1. "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense . Retrieved 2006-05-15. Wikisource-logo.svg Works related to List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006 at Wikisource
  2. 1 2 Christa Case Bryant (2012-05-25). "For Saudi ex-jihadis: a stipend, a wife, and a new life". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Faiza Saleh Ambah (2008-03-24). "Out of Guantanamo and Bitter Toward Bin Laden". Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2009-12-18. Khalid al-Hubayshi, who interviewed for a job with Osama bin Laden in the summer of 2001, now works as a controller at a Saudi utilities firm. He says of bin Laden, "There was no dignity in what he made us do."
  4. 1 2 Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Khalid Sulayman Jaydh al Hubayshi". New York Times . Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  5. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia: Guantanamo Detainees Return to Limbo". May 31, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  6. 1 2 Anant Raut, Jill M. Friedman (March 19, 2007). "The Saudi Repatriates Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  7. "Guantanamo Detainees Return to Legal Limbo". Cageprisoners. 2007-05-27. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  8. 1 2 "U.S. military reviews 'enemy combatant' use". USA Today. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Critics called it an overdue acknowledgment that the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals are unfairly geared toward labeling detainees the enemy, even when they pose little danger. Simply redoing the tribunals won't fix the problem, they said, because the system still allows coerced evidence and denies detainees legal representation.
  9. Christopher Hope; Robert Winnett; Holly Watt; Heidi Blake (2011-04-27). "WikiLeaks: Guantanamo Bay terrorist secrets revealed -- Guantanamo Bay has been used to incarcerate dozens of terrorists who have admitted plotting terrifying attacks against the West – while imprisoning more than 150 totally innocent people, top-secret files disclose". The Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-07-13. The Daily Telegraph, along with other newspapers including The Washington Post, today exposes America's own analysis of almost ten years of controversial interrogations on the world's most dangerous terrorists. This newspaper has been shown thousands of pages of top-secret files obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
  10. "WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  11. "Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi: Guantanamo Bay detainee file on Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi, US9SA-000155DP, passed to the Telegraph by Wikileaks". The Telegraph (UK). 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  12. Geoffrey D. Miller (2004-01-31). "Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD) for Guantanamo Detainee, ISN US9AG". Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Commons-logo.svg Media related to File:ISN 00155, Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi's Guantanamo detainee assessment.pdf at Wikimedia Commons
  13. 1 2 Andy Worthington (2011-08-30). "WikiLeaks and the Guantánamo Prisoners Released After the Tribunals, 2004 to 2005 (Part One of Five)". Archived from the original on 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  14. 1 2 Caryle Murphy (2010-09-11). "In Saudi Arabia, re-educating terrorists held at Gitmo". Global Post. Archived from the original on 2011-10-10. Khalid Al Hubayshi, one of the first Saudis released from Guantanamo, said that he and his family were taken to the home of Prince Muhammad. There, he recalled, the prince told him and two other former Guantanamo inmates: "You are our people and we trust you ... and we hope you learn from the past. We are going to take care of you. You are going to get married. We are going to get you back to your jobs. Don't worry about anything."
  15. 1 2 Sonia Verma (2008-09-11). "Terrorists 'cured' with cash, cars and counselling". The Globe and Mail . Archived from the original on 2011-02-23. Mr. Al Hubayshi, now 33, is one of the first graduates of a controversial Saudi program designed to rehabilitate hard-core militants who have begun to trickle back home after serving time in U.S. detention.
  16. Faiza Saleh Ambah (2008-03-25). "From terror camps to day job; Saudi man fought with terrorists but now supports the political process". Hamilton Spectator. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2017-07-06. U.S. government documents and interviews with Hubayshi, now living in Saudi Arabia and working at a utilities company, provide a rare look into the mind of a man who trained for religious warfare, never fought in combat and now says he believes in the political process. But "if the government had not helped me marry and get my job back," he said, "I might be in Iraq now."
  17. Carlyle Murphy (2008-08-21). "Saudis use cash and counseling to fight terrorism". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 2011-01-25. The young Saudi's break with militant jihadi ideology was not as swift. It started in Guantánamo, but ripened only after he returned home in 2005 to an unexpected reception. Mr. Hubayshi was treated to a mix of forgiveness, theological reeducation, psychological counseling, prison time, and cash.
  18. Andy Worthington (2008-04-28). ""They All Knew He Was Crazy": The Strange Case of Gitmo Prisoner Abu Zubaydah". Alternet. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. He explained that, while attempting to return home in 1999, he had been arrested and imprisoned by the Pakistanis, who confiscated his passport, and that he had then returned to his job at a utilities company in Saudi Arabia on a false passport. His return to Afghanistan in 2001 came about when he discovered that he was wanted for questioning by the Saudi authorities, and it was at the camp near Jalalabad, where he "adept at making remote-controlled explosive devices triggered by cellphones and light switches," that he attracted the attention of al-Qaeda.
  19. Caryle Murphy (2008-08-26). "A creative release for militant minds". The National. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. They also have individual sessions with Islamic religious scholars. "A religious adviser speaks with you, and asks you what you believe and they discuss with you on what basis you believe in that, and they try to change your mind by convincing," says Khalid al Hubayshi, who was released from Guantanamo in 2005. "It's helped so many guys in the prison, they like it." Prisoners can request a sheikh to talk with, and request a different one if they do not like the one they are first assigned, Mr Hubayshi says.
  20. Caryle Murphy (2008-11-20). "Al Qaeda No. 2 insults Obama with racial slur in new video". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 2011-01-25. Khalid al-Hubayshi, a former jihadi fighter in Afghanistan who spent three years at Guantánamo, said Zawahiri no doubt felt compelled to comment on Obama's election because it was such an important event in the US.