An ex-Guantanamo Bay prisoner has become an al-Qaida celebrity and leader in Yemen.
Ibrahim Qosi (also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani), a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay naval station, has resumed his life of terror, becoming a key figure for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), reported the Long War Journal.
Qosi was caught by Pakistani security forces while fighting in along the Afghan-Pakistani border after the Battle of Tora Bora in December, 2001, and was handed over to U.S. officials in 2002. He was held at Guantanamo until 2010, when he agreed to a plea deal with a military commission and was subsequently handed over to authorities in his home country of Sudan in 2012.
His appearance in a recent AQAP video is the first public appearance he has made since his release.
The video appears to be a motivational piece, featuring Qosi and other AQAP officials promoting the cause of AQAP in Yemen and the legitimacy of their cause according to Islamic scholars. Qosi hails the efforts of the Kouachi brothers, who assaulted Charlie Hebdo this year, and urges continued lone wolf and small terror cell attacks.
Qosi’s veteran status in al-Qaeda is crucial to his new-found stardom. As a member of Osama bin Laden’s elite bodyguard and with a combat record that stretches back to the early 1990’s, Qosi’s terrorist credentials are impeccable, making him a very important spokesperson for ongoing al-Qaida operations in Yemen and across the globe.
According to leaked documents and other declassified files from Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Qosi was rated as “high risk” and “likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests, and allies.”
The reports go on to say: “Detainee is an admitted veteran jihadist with combat experience beginning in 1990 and it is assessed he would engage in hostilities against US forces, if released.”
Throughout his multiple years of confinement and previous tenure with al-Qaeda, Qosi was questioned by officials as to why he maintained his loyalty to bin Laden. His answer: “[It is my] religious duty to defend Islam and fulfill the obligation of jihad and that the war between America and al-Qaeda is a war between Islam and aggression of the infidels.”
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