SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 7, 2008

Ex-Guantanamo Prisoner ID'd As Iraq Bomber

U.S. Military Confirms Former Detainee Carried Out Recent Suicide Attack In Mosul

  • On May 7, 2008, a spokesman for U.S. military's Central Command confirmed that former Guantanamo detainee Abdullah al-Ajmi took part in suicide attacks in Mosul. Photo

    On May 7, 2008, a spokesman for U.S. military's Central Command confirmed that former Guantanamo detainee Abdullah al-Ajmi took part in suicide attacks in Mosul.  ()

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(CBS/AP)  A Kuwaiti who had been imprisoned in Guantanamo for more than 3 1/2 years carried out a recent suicide attack in Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi took part in one of three suicide bomb attacks last month in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman.

It appears to be the first time someone who was held at the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba has carried out a suicide attack, said a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.

Al-Ajmi, 29, was transferred in 2005 to Kuwait, where the government was supposed to ensure he would not pose a threat. In May 2006, a Kuwaiti court acquitted him and four other former Guantanamo prisoners of terrorism charges.

Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, citing a cousin of al-Ajmi, last week reported that he had carried out a suicide attack, but the U.S. military could not confirm it until Wednesday.

Rye said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that al-Ajmi's family has confirmed his death and that authorities determined he entered Iraq through Syria.

"It is unknown what motivated him to leave Kuwait and go to Iraq," Rye said. "His family members reportedly were shocked to hear he had conducted a suicide bombing."

Three suicide car bombers targeted Iraqi security forces, killing at least seven people and wounding 28 in the northern city of Mosul, local officials said. It was not yet known which involved al-Ajmi.

Military documents previously released to AP show that al-Ajmi was "constantly in trouble" while in Guantanamo and held in disciplinary blocks during his detention. He also allegedly told officials in August 2004 that "he now is a jihadist, an enemy combatant, and that he will kill as many Americans as he possibly can."

Tom Wilner, a lawyer who represented Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, said al-Ajmi had a broken arm during one of their meetings at the base in Cuba and that he alleged he had been injured by guards who interrupted him while he prayed.

Wilner called the alleged suicide attack a "tragedy" that could have been avoided with court hearings for prisoners held at Guananamo, where the U.S. now holds about 270 men.

"The lack of a process results in tragic mistakes on both sides," the lawyer said.

American officials have said in the past that more than a dozen former Guantanamo prisoners engaged in hostilities against U.S. forces or its allies, an assertion that critics have challenged.

In other developments:

  • The fighting between militiamen and soldiers that has raged for weeks in the Sadr City slum is preventing aid from getting into the neighborhood and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes, humanitarian workers said Wednesday. The skirmishes in Sadr City an eight-mile-square area with 2.5 million people packed into it that serves as a power base for the Shiite Mahdi Army militia has left entire portions of the neighborhood, which is divided into 79 sectors, under siege.

  • Iraq's industry minister opened the door Wednesday to reimbursing the United States for at least some of the billions of dollars spent for reconstructing the country. Industry minister Fawzi Hariri also spoke hopefully of more than doubling Iraqi oil production within two to three years.

  • Iraq's foreign minister on Wednesday said security talks between Iran and the United states have been indefinitely postponed due to an "exchange of accusations" between the sides. Tehran on Monday called off further Iraq security talks with Washington until U.S. forces stop their crackdown on Shiite militias. U.S.-led forces are locked in fierce street battles in Sadr City, a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad. At the same time, Washington has been stepping up its accusations that Iran is backing Shiite extremists in Iraq. Iran denies the claims.


    © MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Add a Comment See all 99 Comments
    by parrot123-2009 May 7, 2008 3:29 PM PDT
    He also allegedly told officials in August 2004 that "he now is a jihadist, an enemy combatant, and that he will kill as many Americans as he possibly can."

    Tom Wilner, a lawyer who represented Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, said al-Ajmi had a broken arm during one of their meetings at the base in Cuba and that he alleged he had been injured by guards who interrupted him while he prayed.


    Is this implying that we made him HATE us ?? I sure hope not. Cheers!
    Reply to this comment
    by usbrit-2009 May 7, 2008 4:16 PM PDT
    After 3 years plus of being held without trial ya don''t think these guys might be just a little pissed off?
    Reply to this comment
    by inventagod2 May 7, 2008 4:20 PM PDT
    ''Al-Ajmi, 29, was transferred in 2005 to Kuwait, where the government was supposed to ensure he would not pose a threat. In May 2006, a Kuwaiti court acquitted him and four other former Guantanamo prisoners of terrorism charges.''

    Well, THAT was a mistake... Go Bu$h!
    Reply to this comment
    by obamawhama May 7, 2008 4:20 PM PDT
    After 3 years plus of being held without trial ya don''''t think these guys might be just a little pissed off?


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Posted by USBrit at 04:16 PM : May 07, 2008
    + report abuse


    *************

    these people were pissed off way before the went to guantanamo..AND THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU..now they have another opportunity to KILL people like you..NAIVE..ALOOF..
    Reply to this comment
    by obamawhama May 7, 2008 4:23 PM PDT
    He must be picturing the same world as me - a world wiithout Americans !!!!


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Posted by Cavs5714 at 04:01 PM : May 07, 2008
    + report abuse


    *********

    you and all of LIBERAL berkley share the same wish
    Reply to this comment
    by magoo2u1 May 7, 2008 4:35 PM PDT
    Finally! The Bush administration was right on something.
    It''s time to weld the gate shut and just toss food over the fence. No sympathy for the goobs in gitmo from me now.
    Reply to this comment
    by randynason May 7, 2008 4:49 PM PDT
    That''s the new American politico ethic: "If you aren''t a terrorist before we meet ya, you will be after we''re through with you."
    Reply to this comment
    by prinzowhales May 7, 2008 5:18 PM PDT
    Conmgrats are in order! The US after five years, has finally named a suicide bomber! Break out the champagne! And he reveals the secret of how to get out of Guantanamo. Just tell your captors: ''I am now a jihadist, an enemy combatant, and will kill as many Americans as I can.'' Whatever you do, don''t tell them you are an innocent goat herder,

    You to can be a jihadist! Come to our indoctrination center---Beautiful Camp G--and come out a confirmed member of our booming suicide bomber community!
    Reply to this comment
    by bgwinnett May 7, 2008 5:24 PM PDT
    An isolated case, so lets not get any TOLD YOU SO bloggers.
    Reply to this comment
    by quetzalcrist May 7, 2008 5:30 PM PDT
    see what waterboarding does to ya,
    it makes ya very, very angry..
    Reply to this comment
    by milesbrown49 May 7, 2008 5:33 PM PDT
    How to make a terrorist 101: Taught by Republicans
    Reply to this comment
    by notblue May 7, 2008 5:41 PM PDT
    It''s amazing to the read these purposely IGNORANT posts regarding this terrorist. Why won''t some entertain the possibility that just maybe this guy was a TERRORIST before he went to PRISON for his previous acts? Why is that beyond the relm of possibility? My bet is that the vast majority of prisoners at Guantanimo are there for a reason. HELLO!
    Reply to this comment
    by bobnjersey May 7, 2008 5:54 PM PDT
    [Is this implying that we made him HATE us ?? I sure hope not. Cheers!]
    [Posted by parrot123 at 03:29 PM : May 07, 2008]

    no ... they just all got up one morning a bunch of years back and decided that the us of a was bad ... and declared jihad against us ... not for any particular reason ... just cause they had nothing else to do.

    they started it ... just cause they''re crazy ... really ... we didn''t do a thing that would have led to an endless line of those willing to die for a cause.

    from now on ... nobody is allowed to talk about this ... it'' all their fault.

    (this has been a test of the neo-con broadcast system ... if this was a real test ...)
    Reply to this comment
    by republic1776 May 7, 2008 6:04 PM PDT
    We freed. he killed himself and others.
    Got to love the tree hugging liberal''s like rosie who hate America.
    See what happens when "feelings" dictate America future.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 6:09 PM PDT
    Maybe he simply missed the food at GITMO
    Reply to this comment
    by singingrick May 7, 2008 6:10 PM PDT



    Nice. Another example of Bush policies that actually create terror.


    Reply to this comment
    by ramos937 May 7, 2008 6:24 PM PDT
    We detained many of these guys at GITMO for no good reason other than someone turned them in for the $25K bounty. We treat them the way we do. We finally release them once they get a hearing. Is it any wonder that they are prime Al Queda recruits?
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 6:33 PM PDT
    sbbm,,,, I''m afraid that milesbrown49 is right. this republican White House & Congress has given Al Queda more safe countries than ever.

    Just calling it a War on Terror or a War on Evil, turned them from criminals to soldiers with a mission.
    Reply to this comment
    by excoachken May 7, 2008 6:48 PM PDT
    Terrorist before or after being held prisoner for 3 1/2 years? This is like the "chicken or the egg" question. The reality is that there are a lot of people in the mid east who hate us because we have chosen to take the pro-Israel (Lieberman) approach to every skirmish that occurs there. Perhaps we would get better results with a more objective perspective.
    Reply to this comment
    by enriquecaliente May 7, 2008 6:51 PM PDT
    "We freed. he killed himself and others.
    Got to love the tree hugging liberal''''s like rosie who hate America. See what happens when "feelings" dictate America future".

    A$$hole.

    Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe he was innocent and that his stay at Gitmo, gave him the justification to do what he did. For all you know we created this monster.

    I bet you can justify the massacre at wounded knee too.!

    Where are the WMD''s.
    Why are the people who outed a CIA agent still walking the streets.

    Remember this all of the career Generals and Admirals who have turned against this war. Took an oath to protect America from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Bush and his ilk are the domestic ones.
    Reply to this comment
    by toolmangler-2009 May 7, 2008 7:03 PM PDT
    Just study Islam for a while and if you are like a lot of Christians (non-thinking) you will probably join up, If you are a semi-thinking person and study it, you will begin making plans to either leave Earth or start killing them on sight.A real thinking person will begin sealing them off in Asia and not let them leave for five hundred years or until they have become civilized and forswear violence as a way of spreading their religion. (pipe-dream #36)
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 7:06 PM PDT
    Tool,,, That would be cool by me, take Bush & Chuckles Cheney seal them off in Asia and not let them leave for five hundred years
    Reply to this comment
    by guadalcanal3 May 7, 2008 7:44 PM PDT
    cavs5417...Nice language you idiot. (show''s how ignorant "you" are.)
    Reply to this comment
    by obamawhama May 7, 2008 7:45 PM PDT
    of course the terrorist loving liberals blaming christians again and having wishy washy "what if'' dreams..conjuring up more ''comedy central'' style factiods to dismiss the action of this terrorist
    Reply to this comment
    by guadalcanal3 May 7, 2008 7:46 PM PDT
    cavs5417...Your spelling is even worse...get an education...and a life.
    Reply to this comment
    by demslie May 7, 2008 8:31 PM PDT
    The Democrats have always been the Best Partners that world wide terrorism has ever had. The American Soldiers have been saying for two years that IRAN is killing them with training, money and weapons supplied to terrorists in IRAQ. But if Bush or anyone else mentions doing something about it, Democrats scream hate, rage and anger at America. The enemy of the United States is the Democrat Party who would love to see America Fail because it fits thier evil political Agenda.
    Reply to this comment
    by demslie May 7, 2008 8:36 PM PDT
    Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe he was innocent and that his stay at Gitmo, gave him the justification to do what he did. For all you know we created this monster.

    Posted by enriquecalie

    You can always trust a Democrat to make excuses for genocidal terrorists. Its always our fault, never the fault of the murdering nuts. Have you ever seen a Democrat make any excuses in support of America? Never. America is always to blame. Ant these Democrats want us to vote for them and their terrorist partners?
    Reply to this comment
    by closethippy1 May 7, 2008 8:53 PM PDT
    It makes the most sense to me that this guy got pissed at us and did what he did because of it.
    It doesn''t always happen, but it''s plausible.
    To raise this probability doesn''t mean one is against the US or hates the US.
    Besides, Guantanamo goes against every humane treatment of prisoners: No charges, no lawyers, no end in sight, no habeas corpus, and some prisoners get very upset at this.
    Nothing to do with religion, or upbringing, or what language you talk. It''s just someone who was born with a bad temper and ended up in a bad situation bringing the worst out of him.
    Reply to this comment
    by downsteamjim May 7, 2008 9:19 PM PDT
    Catch and release should only be used with fish.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:32 PM PDT
    My oh my,,,, Look at all the bitter people here
    Reply to this comment
    by downsteamjim May 7, 2008 9:33 PM PDT
    Hey J.Whitman someone must have given you a mirror for Mother''s Day.
    Reply to this comment
    by guadalcanal3 May 7, 2008 9:34 PM PDT
    cavs5417..So if your not an American...What are you?
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:37 PM PDT
    downsteamjim,,,, Mirror ?? Funny, that''s what Bush calls you people, his "mirrors" ---- But thanks for reminding me about mother''s day, your''s threw you away at birth didn''t she ????
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:37 PM PDT
    There is no justification for what he did. If terrorists had any guts they would come out and fight lik real men, niot go hide in some hole and blow themselves up just to kill some Americans. I agree we shouldn''t be in Iraq. It isn''t worth one American life. If we wanted to do something useful we should have nuked the whole damm place.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:42 PM PDT
    ranger1948,,,, One thing you can say about this guy -- He won''t have the guts to do it again.
    Reply to this comment
    by downsteamjim May 7, 2008 9:44 PM PDT
    To J-whitman: Your bitterness is showing again. Try Mellow Joy or Community coffee. It couldn''t hurt.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:44 PM PDT
    Someone should let McBush know this guy was from Kuwait not Iran
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:45 PM PDT
    downsteamjim,,,, Thanks, but I like my coffee dark, bold & with a bite
    Reply to this comment
    by guadalcanal3 May 7, 2008 9:46 PM PDT
    ranger1948...Yeah...I think cavs5417 lives in one of those cav(e)s that your talking about...going by how cavs5417 talks I reckon he must be Bin laden''s shoe-shine boy (or is it sandals?)...or at least his toilet bowl cleaner. (or is it hand cleaner?)
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:46 PM PDT
    jwhitman
    I see you are always looking for th positive side of things, and i agree with you.
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:47 PM PDT
    guadacanal3
    I think maybe ben laden keeps him around for bj''s and rim jobs
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:48 PM PDT
    Anyway cav wouldn''t have the guts to tell anyone where he is. He knows someone would come get him.
    Reply to this comment
    by downsteamjim May 7, 2008 9:51 PM PDT
    To J-Whitman: Community makes a great dark roast.
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:55 PM PDT
    i would like to share some roqast pig with cav, or even raw would be fine, shove it down his terrorist throat
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 9:59 PM PDT
    I think come November republicans will be strapping on suicide vests --- Newt Gingrich is telling them it''s over for the GOP
    Reply to this comment
    by downsteamjim May 7, 2008 9:59 PM PDT
    To Nancy Naive: Maybe in your dreams you can be one of his virgins. Just hope he can find all the pieces.
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 9:59 PM PDT
    nancy_naive
    I am glad he did just too bad he had to kill innocent people with him. My daughter and her fiancee just returned from Iraq so i am glad they are back home safe again.
    Reply to this comment
    by ranger1948 May 7, 2008 10:03 PM PDT
    jwhitm,an
    I am wondering if bush and his regime really think they can live safely any whwere in the U.S. after what they have done to this country.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 10:04 PM PDT
    ranger1948,,,, How about those girls ?? Let them on their own for awhile, they bring home a fiancee, like a lost dog they found --- Daddy, can I keep him ??
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman May 7, 2008 10:07 PM PDT
    ranger1948,,, I was watching CSPAN last night, on the torture memo''s just found ---- There are countries that want Bush, Cheney & their lawyers brought up on War Crimes. - There is no Statute of Limitations on that.
    Reply to this comment
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