Ex-Gitmo detainees help al-Qaida grow in Yemen

Ex-Gitmo detainees help al-Qaida grow in Yemen
By Mike Melia and Sarah El Deeb - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 31, 2009 14:36:38 EST

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As a prisoner at Guantanamo, Said Ali al-Shihri said he wanted freedom so he could go home to Saudi Arabia and work at his family’s furniture store.

Instead, al-Shihri, who was released in 2007 under the Bush administration, is now deputy leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attempted bomb attack on a Detroit-bound airliner.

His potential involvement in the terrorist plot has raised new opposition to releasing Guantanamo Bay inmates, complicating President Barack Obama’s pledge to close the military prison in Cuba. It also highlights the challenge of identifying the hard-core militants as the administration decides what to do with the remaining 198 prisoners.

Like other former Guantanamo detainees who have rejoined al-Qaida in Yemen, al-Shihri, 36, won his release despite jihadist credentials such as, in his case, urban warfare training in Afghanistan.

He later goaded the United States, saying Guantanamo only strengthened his anti-American convictions.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_al_qaida_yemen_123109/

We will always have to chase and kill terrorists, but Gitmo is just terrible PR for our war efforts.