Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
_ar. عبد الرحيم النشيري


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citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 10015
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charge = organizing and directing the 2000 USS Cole bombing, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
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csrt_summary = Wikisource-inline|CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Al Nashiri
csrt_transcript=
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Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri ( _ar. title=U.S.: Top al Qaeda operative arrested |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/11/21/alqaeda.capture/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=2002-11-22] He is alleged to be the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing and other terrorist attacks, who headed al-Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf states prior to his capture in November of 2002.

On February 6, 2008, the CIA director General Michael Hayden confirmed that the CIA had used waterboarding on al-Nashiri, along with two other prisoners, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubayda. [cite web
url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/02/cia-chief-confirms-use-of-waterboarding.php
title=CIA chief confirms use of waterboarding on 3 terror detainees | Jurist Legal News & Research
publisher=University of Pittsburgh School of Law
accessdate=2008-05-13
last=Price
first=Caitlin] cite web|date=2008-02-07|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23170732-2703,00.html|title=CIA finally admits to waterboarding|format=HTML|publisher=The Australian|accessdate=2008-02-18] [cite web
last = Shane
first = Scott
date = June 22, 2008
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
title = Inside a 9/11 Mastermind’s Interrogation
work = New York Times
accessdate = 2008-06-23]

Background

Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Nashiri travelled to Afghanistan to participate in attacks against the Russians in the region. In 1996 he travelled to Tajikistan and then Jalalabad, where he first met Osama bin Laden.cite book |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm |chapter=Chapter 5 |title=9/11 Commission Report |author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |year=2004] Bin Laden attempted to convince al-Nashiri to join al-Qaeda at this point, but he refused because he found the idea of swearing a loyalty oath to bin Laden to be distasteful. Still, after al-Nashiri travelled to Yemen, he began to consider committing terrorist actions against United States interests.

When he returned to Afghanistan in 1997, he again met bin Laden, but again declined to join in the terrorist group. Instead, he fought with the Taliban against the Afghan Northern Alliance. Still, he assisted in the smuggling of four anti-tank missiles into Saudi Arabia, and helped arrange for a terrorist to get a Yemeni passport. His cousin, Jihad Mohammad Ali al-Makki, was one of the suicide bombers in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya.

Joined al-Qaeda

Finally, probably in 1998, al-Nashiri joined al-Qaeda, reporting directly to bin Laden. In late 1998, he conceived of a plot to attack a U.S. vessel using a boat full of explosives. Bin Laden personally approved of the plan, and provided money for it. First, al-Nashiri attempted to attack the USS "The Sullivans" as a part of the 2000 millennium attack plots, but the boat he used was overloaded with explosives and began to sink.

The next attempt, however, the USS "Cole" bombing, was successful. 17 U.S. sailors were killed, and many more were injured. This success brought him fame and respect within al-Qaeda, and al-Nashiri became the chief of operations for the Arabian Peninsula. He organized the Limburg tanker bombing in 2002, and he may have planned other attacks as well.

Arrest

In November 2002, al-Nashiri was captured in the United Arab Emirates. He is currently in American military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp,c] having previously been held at some secret location. On September 29, 2004, he was sentenced to death "in absentia" in a Yemeni court for his role in the USS "Cole" bombing.

The U.S. military put al-Rahim al-Nashiri in prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said March 14 2008. He was held by the CIA for an undisclosed amount of time.cite news |title=Bin Laden associate transferred from CIA to Gitmo |publisher=CNN |date=2008-03-14|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/03/14/al.qaida.gitmo/index.html|accessdate=2008-03-14]

CSRT-Yes cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ISN10015.pdf#1
title=Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Nashiri, Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed
date=February 8, 2007
pages=pages 1-2
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2007-12-25]

*That he had been a bomb-maker.
*That he traveled on a forged passport.
*That he arranged to have a small boat rented just prior to the USS Cole bombing. [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ISN10015.pdf#1 Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf)] , from Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - page 1]

The full verbatim transcript from his Tribunal ended up bin thirty-six pages long, after extensive redactions were made from the portions when he responded to questions about his claims that his confessions were the result of torture.cite web
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/transcriptISN10015.pdf#1
title=Verbatim Transcript of Open Session Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10015
date=March 14, 2007
pages=pages 1-36
author=OARDEC
publisher=United States Department of Defense
accessdate=2007-12-25]

Claims of torture

Abd al-Rahim attributed his confessions of involvement in the USS Cole bombing to torture.cite news
url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/03/guantanamo-detainee-says-torture.php
date= March 30, 2007
publisher=The Jurist
title=Guantanamo detainee says torture prompted confession to USS Cole bombing
author=Gabriel Haboubi
accessdate=2007-06-19] All the details Abd al-Rahim offered of his claims of torture were redacted from his transcript.cite news
url=http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070330/D8O6IK0G3.html
title=Suspect at Guantanamo Claims Torture
date=March 30, 2007
publisher=Associated Press
author=Lolita C. Baldor
accessdate=2007-06-19]

In his opening statement, al-Nashiri listed seven false confessions he had been induced to make while under torture.
#The French Merchant Vessel Limburg incident.
#The USS Cole bombing.
#The rockets in Saudi Arabia.
#The plan to bomb American ships in the gulf.
#Relationship with people committing bombings in Saudi Arabia.
#Usama Bin Laden having a nuclear bomb.
#A plan to hijack a plane and crash it into a ship.

During the course of his Tribunal he claimed additional confessions he had made, while being tortured.

ee also

*Jamal Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi
*2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction

References

External links

* [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html The Final 9/11 Commission Report]
* [http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/03/guantanamo-detainee-says-torture.php al-Nashiri says torture prompted confession to USS Cole bombing] March 30 2007
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR2008050302047.html? Probe of USS Cole Bombing Unravels] Washington Post May 4 2008