The US Government Accuses Al-Nashiri
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S E C R E T // NOFORNI I 2O3II2O8 DEPARTMENTOF DEFENSE HEADQUARTERS,JOINT TASK FORCE GUANTANAMO U.S.NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA APOAE 09360 JTF-GTMO-CDR 8 December2006 MEMORANDUM FOR Commander,United StatesSouthem Command. 3511 NW 9lst Avenue. Miami,FL33172 SUBJECT: CombatantStatus Review Tribunal Input and Recommendationfor Continued DetentionUnder DoD Control (CD) for GuantanamoDetainee, ISN: US9SA-010015DP(S) JTF-GTMO DetaineeAssessment l. (S//NF) Personal Information: o JDIMSA{DRC ReferenceName: Abd al-RahimHussein Muhammad Abdah al-Nashiri o Aliases and Current/True Name: SaeedAbdallah Oasemal- Mansouri.Abu al-Miqdad.Abu Bilal al-Makki. Muhammad Umr al-Harazi.al-Hajj Ahmad. MahlzoobOa'ed Sa'id al- Outabi.Eid al-Harbi.Eid A'yed Shannanal-Mo'abbadi. Muthib Thawab al-Mutayri. al-Ahnaf o Placeof Birth: Mecca. SaudiArabia (SA) o Date of Birth: 5 January1965 o Citizenship: Yemen (YM) o InternmentSerial Number (ISN): US9SA-010015DP 2. (U//FOUO) Health: Detaineeis in good health. 3. (S/NF) JTF-GTMO Assessment: ^. (S) Recommendation: JTF-GTMO recommendsthis detaineefor ContinuedDetention Under DoD Control (CD). b. (S/NF) Executive Summary: Detaineeis one of al-Qaida'smost skilled, capable,and prolific operational coordinators. Detaineereported directly to UBL and led his own al- Qaida group that was responsiblefor conducting operationsoutside of Afghanistan. Detaineehas been linked to as many as a dozen plots to attackUS and westem intereststo CLASSIFIEDBY: MULTIPLESOURCES REASON:E.O. 12958, AS AMENDED, SECTION 1.4(C) DECLASSIFYON: 20311208 S E C R E T / / NOFORN / I 2O3II2O8 Downloaded from The Rendition Project www.therenditionproject.org.uk S E C RE T / / NOFORN I I 2O3II2O8 JTF.GTMO-CDR SUBJECT: CombatantStatus Review Tribunal Input and Recommendationfor Continued DetentionUnder DoD Control (CD) for GuantanamoDetainee, ISN: US9SA-010015DP(S) includethe successfulUSS COLE and M/V LIMBURG attacks. Detaineehas close connectionsto most senioral-Qaida members and a long history ofjihadist activity. JTF- GTMO determinedthis detaineeto be: o A HIGH risk, ashe is likely to posea threatto the US, its interestsand allies. o A HIGH threat from a detention perspective. o Of HIGH intellisencevalue. 4. (S/NF) Account of Detainee'sTimeline: The following section is based on a consolidation of several accountsfrom various significant individuals in order to assemblea feasible timeline. a. (S//NF) Timeline from 1992 to 1997: From 1992to 1993,detainee fought in the Tajikistanjihadr wherehe met al-Qaidaoperative, Walid MuhammadSalih Bin Attash aka (Iftallad) aka (Silver), for the first time. The leader of detainee'sgroup during the trip was Hamzaal-Ghamdi, who had beenUsama Bin Laden's (UBL) bodyguardand a long-time jihadist.2 In 1993,detainee trained at al-Qaida'sJihad-Wal Campnear Khowst, Rfgnanistan (AF), where he met al-Qaida operative,Abu Zubaydah for the first time.r Later in 1994, detaineeand Khallad met UBL in Jalalabad,AF, where the two of them stayedin a UBL guesthousefor a week. During that time, detaineelistened to UBL speakabout the coming battle with the US. Detaineeeventually returned to Saudi Arabia then traveled to Yemen while Khallad remainedin Afghanistan.a In 1995,detainee, Hamza al-Ghamdi and a 10-15member group were en route to northem Afghanistan to fight in the Tajik jihad, but were unable to cross the border into Tajikistan. Detaineethen traveled to southem Afghanistan where he learnedUBL had returned from Sudan.t By late 1996,detainee wanted to leam the statusof some of his uncles who had gone to Afghanistan for jihad. He also wanted to know more about the Taliban. During this timeframe,while Harrzaal-Ghamdi was servingas one of UBL's bodyguards, detaineesaw UBL for the secondtime, in Kandahar, and listened to him speakabout the coming battlewith the US.6 In early1997, detainee stayed in Afghanistan,traveling back and forth from Kandahar to the front lines of Kabul and Jalalabad. Detainee said he fousht ' TD-3| 4/ 1I 500-04,TD-3 t4 I 1| | 64-03 'TD-314t38699-03 t to-ztqtqgSs3-oz oro-zutszzzg-oz t ro-z ur eqt77-03, TD -3 t4 I t7 348-04 " TD-3t4 I t] 348-04,TD-3 I 4t 52239-02 2 S E C R E T // NOFORNI / 2O3II2O8 Downloaded from The Rendition Project www.therenditionproject.org.uk S E C R E T // NOFORN / I 20311208 JTF-GTMO-CDR SUBJECT: CombatantStatus Review Tribunal Input and Recommendationfor Continued DetentionUnder DoD Control (CD) for GuantanamoDetainee, ISN: US9SA-010015DP(S) with the Taliban againstthe United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA), but was not a commander. Detaineecontracted malaria while visiting the front lines and becamevery ill so he returned to Kandaharwhere he again met UBL while staying at UBL's airport guesthouse.T b. (S/NF) Timeline from 1998 to 2000: In 1998,after learningof his cousinJihad Harazi's suicidebombing of the US Embassyin Kenya, detaineejoined al-Qaida. By this time detaineecompletely agreed with UBL's messageto attackthe US. Oncehe joined al- Qaida, detaineetrained at Ibn al-Khattab's camp and trained on a variety of weapons. Sometimein 1998,detainee met privately with UBL and was introducedto the idea of attackinga westernvessel off the coastof Yemen. A week later,he traveledto Yemen.8 Around late-1998to early-1999,detainee fled back to Afghanistanafter learningthat Khallad was detainedby Yemeni authorities.n In late spring 1999, after six-to-sevenmonths in Afghanistan,UBL provided detaineewith $2,000USD to return to Yemen,purchase a boat, 'u and observethe travel of US Navy shipsand oil tankersoff the coast. Detaineecased the Red Seain a powerboatover the courseof three-to-fourmonths. In Septemberor October 1999,UBL recalleddetainee to Afghanistan,requesting a summaryof his findings. Detainee reportedhaving seenseveral oil tankers,but no US Navy shipsin the area... UBL then instructeddetainee to caseactivity in the Port of Aden, YM." In late November 1999,detainee flew back to Yemen, and,per UBL's instructions,met with Jamal Muhammad Ahmed Ali al-Badawi, a suspectin the COLE attack. In February 2000, after the attackon the USS THE SULLIVANS failed due to the explosives-ladenboat capsizing and sinking soon after it was launched,detainee returned to Afghanistan. Despite the setback,UBL told detaineeto try the operation again.l2 Upon returning to Yemen in September2000, detaineechose Hassan al-Khamiri and Ibrahim al-Thawr aka (al-Nebras)to be his suicideoperatives for the operationthat would eventuallyoccur againstthe USS COLE. Detaineereceived a phonecall from Khallad who told him that UBL wantedthem replaced. Detaineewas angry about this decision and went to Afghanistan immediately to talk to UBL and explain that changing operativeswould set things back. Prior to departing for Afghanistan, detaineegave his two operativesin Yemen instructions to carry out the attack on the next US warship that enteredthe port." Two-to-three weeks after detainee ' TD-3 t4 I 52239-02,TD-3 14t09 594-03 " TD-314/08879-04 ' to-: t+logazg-o+ t0 To3 ruI 52239-02,TD -3 t4 I 0887g -04 " TD-314104078-03 '2to-3t+/08819-04 t3tn-3r4/08879-04 3 S E C R E T // NOFORN / I 2O3II2O8 Downloaded from The Rendition Project www.therenditionproject.org.uk S E C RE T / / NOFORN I I 2O3II2O8 JTF-GTMO-CDR SUBJECT: CombatantStatus Review Tribunal Input and Recommendationfor Continued DetentionUnder DoD Control (CD) for GuantanamoDetainee, ISN: US9SA-010015DP(S) retumedto Afghanistan,USS COLE was attackedby his operatives.laDetainee met with UBL in November 2000,and following the meetingreturned to the front lines.rs c. (S//NF) Timeline from 2001 to 20022 In January 200I, detaineetraveled from Karachi to Lahore,Pakistan (PK), to recruit operativesfor a Strait of Hormuz (SoH) operation.l6In March or April 2001, UBL instructed detaineeto go to Karachi and researchthe availability and price of a large fishing boat for the SoH attack. UBL told detaineeto take Muhammad HasanGhulam Rabbani aka (Abu Badr al-Pakistani),ISN US9PK-001461DP(PK-1461), with him for assistance.Detainee and PK-1461 spenttwo weeksin Karachi collecting information before detaineeretumed to Afghanistan to adviseUBL that the boats they saw were expensiveand had mechanicalproblems. UBL instructed detaineeto retum to Karachi and looked for a fishing boat large enoughto hold two smaller boats. UBL provided detainee additional money and instructed him to begin searchingfor a ship; researchthe availability and cost of a small fishing boat; learn Karachi's boat registrationprocess; and studythe Port of Karachi's entry and exit proceduresusing fishing expeditionsas cover. UBL told detainee to take Umayr Bin Attash, ISN PK9SA-001456DP(5A-.1456), with him to Karachi. SA- ' 1456cooked and ran errandsfor detaineeand PK- I 461.' tnsteadof acquiringthe ship for the SoH operation in Karachi, detaineeultimately sent al-Qaida operativesto the UAE who thenpurchased a 300-400ton ship for the attacks.r8 On 11 September2001, detainee was recoveringin the LaiaqaHospital in Karachi following a tonsillectomy.reWhen he learnedof the attacksandthe pendingUS-led military response,he hurried his recovery and returned to the front lines in Afghanistan.2otn October 2001,detainee met with UBL in Kabul and was told to completethe SoH operationso he headedtoward Pakistan.2l Detaineetraveled to Kandahar around November 200122where he met with Khalid ShaykhMuhammad (KSM) to discussthe SoH operationand detainee's planned travel to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.23 Detaineethen traveled to the Zormatregion of Afghanistan2aand the mountainsbetween Kabul and Khowst, where he, Khallad, and Abu Faraj al-Libi fought under the command of Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi.25 Around 'o TD-314105653-03, TD-3 l4108879-04 " TD-3r4105653-03 'uto-314/09 594-03 " TD-314111991-03,TD-314138975-02, Analyst Note: SA-1456is thebrother of KhalladBin Atrash. 't TD-314/38682-02 'n TD-3r4138 682-02 'oTD-3r4/05653-03 2t to4tqrcg5t5-03 22 tn4lqrcg515-03, TD-314129818-03,Analyst Note: I1TD-314129878,the senior al-Qaida members reportedly met in Zormatin December2002, but thesemeetings are assessed to havetaken place in December2001 vice 2002.