குவாண்டனமோ ஏமாற்றுவேலை

குவாண்டனமோ சிறையில் இருந்து பல வருட விசாரணைகளுக்குப் பிறகு பல சிறைக்கைதிகள் பயங்கரவாதத்துக்கு சம்பந்தமில்லை என்று விடுவிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.
இவ்வாறு விடுவிக்கப்பட்டவர்களில் பெரும்பாலோனோர் குறைந்தது 30 பேர் மீண்டும் ஆயுதம் தாங்கி அல்குவேதா போராளிகளாக அமெரிக்க துருப்புகளை எதிர்த்து போரிட்டு இறந்திருக்கிறார்கள்.

இவ்வாறு விடுவிக்கப்பட்டு மீண்டும் மாட்டியவர்கள் பாகிஸ்தானிலும் ஆப்கானிஸ்தானிலுமே இருக்கிறார்கள். ஈராக்கில் இல்லை என்றும் கூறுகிறார்.


Freed prisoners return to jihad, says US military
Ian Munro
Herald Correspondent in New York
July 28, 2007

AT LEAST 30 former prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been killed or recaptured after taking up arms against US and allied forces following their release, the US military says.

They have been discovered in Afghanistan and Pakistan but not in Iraq, a US Defence Department spokesman said yesterday.

Lieutenant-Commander Jeffrey Gordon said that while in custody the men had falsely claimed to be farmers, truck drivers, cooks, small-arms merchants, low-level combatants or had offered other false explanations for being in Afghanistan.

"We are aware of dozens of cases where they have returned to militant activities, participated in anti-US propaganda or engaged in other activities," said Commander Gordon.

His comments follow the death this week of a Taliban commander and former prisoner, Abdullah Mehsud, who reportedly blew himself up rather than surrender to Pakistani forces.

In December 2001 Mehsud was captured in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo Bay until his release in March 2004. He later became the Taliban chief for South Waziristan.

Commander Gordon said the US did not make it a practice to track prisoners after their release but it had become aware, through intelligence gathering and media reports, of many cases of released prisoners returning to combat.

"These former detainees successfully lied to US officials, sometimes for over three years," Commander Gordon said.

"Common cover stories include going to Afghanistan to buy medicines, to teach the Koran or to find a wife. Many of these stories appear so often and are subsequently proven false, that we can only conclude that they are part of their terrorist training."

An analysis of 516 Guantanamo prisoners, by the Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point military academy, has found while there was no evidence linking six of them to terrorist activities, 95 per cent were a threat to US interests. This was based on their affiliations with groups such as al-Qaeda, their enthusiasm for jihad, having undertaken small arms training or having been willing to perform a support role for terrorism.

But only one in three could be definitely identified as a fighter for the Taliban, al-Qaeda or associated groups, the analysis found. Most of the prisoners were considered a greater-than-potential risk because of support they had shown the Islamist cause by fighting for Islamist forces or by undertaking advanced military training.

The analysis was based on material released publicly after hearings of the Combatant Status Review Tribunal between July 2004 and March 2005. It followed claims some men held at Guantanamo did not pose a serious threat to the US and had not supported action against it.

The review does not include the so-called Australian Taliban, David Hicks, who pleaded guilty to material support of terrorism.

The co-author, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Felter, said the study had relied only on publicly available evidence against the men, although in some cases further evidence was available.

"We were very careful only to list someone as a fighter if that was explicitly listed against them. We were very neutral. We were given some more records but we limited our work to whatever was publicly available," Colonel Felter said.

The study was undertaken after a Seton Hall University analysis of the detention system found only 8 per cent of prisoners had been found to be al-Qaeda fighters.