Mohamed Atiq Awayd Al Harbi
Encyclopedia
Mentioned in the "No-hearing hearings" study
According to the study entitled, No-hearing hearingsNo-hearing hearings
No-hearing hearings is the title of a study published by Professor Mark P. Denbeaux of the Seton Hall University School of Law, his son Joshua Denbeaux, and some of his law students, on October 17, 2006....
, Al Harbi was an example of a captive who was arbitrarily denied the opportunity to present exculpatory documents to his Tribunal.
The study quoted Al Harbi:
Repatriation
On November 25, 2008, the Department of Defense released a list of the dates captives departed from Guantanamo.According to that list he was repatriated to Saudi custody on November 9, 2007, with thirteen other men.
The records published from the captives' annual Administrative Reviews show his repatriation was the subject of formal internal review procedures in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
But the Board's recommendations from the 2007 review—the only one to be published—were redacted.
The conclusion the Designated Civilian Official
Designated Civilian Official
The Designated Civilian Official is the title of the civilian appointed to head the Office for the Administrative Review of Detained Enemy Combatants .The DCO and OARDEC were officially created on June 23, 2004.-Announcement:...
authorized was also redacted.
At least ten other men in his release group were not repatriated through the formal review procedure.
Peter Taylor writing for the BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
called the Saudis repatriated on November 9, 2007 with al-Harbi, "batch 10".
He wrote that the BBC's research had found this batch to be a problematic cohort, and that four other men forom this batch were named on the Saudi most wanted list.
Defection
In January 2009, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula released several threatening videos.Two of the Al-Qaida spokesmen appearing in the video identified themselves as former Guantanamo captives, and graduates of the Care rehabilitation center
Care Rehabilitation Center
The Care Rehabilitation Center is a facility in Saudi Arabia intended to re-integrate former jihadists into the mainstream of Saudi culture.The center is located in a former resort complex, complete with swimming pools, and other recreational facilities, outside Riyadh.According to Peter Taylor,...
, a Saudi facility intended to deprogram former jihadists. One of the men claiming to be a former Guantanamo captive, identified himself as
Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi claimed to have been Guantanamo captive 333.
He appeared in the video with three other men, one of whom was also identified as a former Guantanamo captive, Guantanamo captive 372, Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri.
The other two men were identified as Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira Qasm al-Rimi.
The independent third party terrorist consultants at SITE Institute
SITE Institute
The Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. The SITE Institute was founded in 2002 by Rita Katz and Josh Devon, who had left the Investigative Project...
confirmed that he was Guantanamo captive 333.
Guantanamo spokesman Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Jeffrey Gordon
Jeffrey D. Gordon
Jeffrey D. Gordon is a communications consultant to several conservative Washington, DC-based think tanks. Gordon is also a contributing columnist to Fox News, AOL News, the Washington Times and other media outlets. Previously, he was a Commander in the United States Navy.-Naval career:He was...
declined to confirm SITE's identifications.
On January 28, 2009, the Saudi Gazette
Saudi Gazette
Saudi Gazette is the leading English language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. and is currently available both in print and online.As of July 1, 2011, Dr Omar S. Elmershedi is the Saudi Gazette Editor-in-Chief.Managing Editor: Shams Ahsan...
published a report based largely on interviews with al-Oufi's family.
Al-Oufi's mother told the Saudi Gazette that her son's radicalization was due to al-Shihri's influence.
His sister said he gave no clues to his defection and disappearance until he received a cell phone call from Al-Shihri, who subsequently picked him up, and then the pair disappeared.
She said their father had been bed-ridden since his re-emergence on the al Qaida video.
The article also quoted former Guantanamo captive Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Al-Badah:
On February 3, 2009, the Saudi government published a most wanted list
Saudi Arabian most wanted list
Periodically Saudi Arabia publishes a most wanted list.According to Asharq Alawsat Saudi Arabia has published four lists of "most wanted" suspected terrorists, and those lists contained 19, 26, 36 and 85 individuals....
that named 85 suspected terrorists.
Robert Worth, reporting in the New York Times, wrote that fourteen Saudis, formerly held in Guantanamo, had fallen under suspicion of supporting terrorism following their release. He identified "Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Awfi", an alias of al Harbis as on the list, with two of the three other men who appeared in the threatening video, and a third man.
Surrender or recapture
ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, Agence France Presse and the New York Times reported on February 17, 2009, that Saudi Authorities reported "Mohamed Atiq Awayd al-Awfi" voluntarily turned himself in to Saudi authorities in Yemen.
The Saudi Gazette
Saudi Gazette
Saudi Gazette is the leading English language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. and is currently available both in print and online.As of July 1, 2011, Dr Omar S. Elmershedi is the Saudi Gazette Editor-in-Chief.Managing Editor: Shams Ahsan...
reports he turned himself in to Yemeni authorities at the Saudi/Yemen border.
CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reported that he was captured by Yemeni security officials who extradited him to Saudi Arabia.
Another difference between CNN's reporting and that from other news services is that CNN called him his companion in the video, Al Shihri "one of al Qaeda's top leaders in Yemen", and called al-Awfi
'""the group's field commander."
According to other news services. al-Shihri had been identified himself as second in command of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and no one had stated al-Awfi's position in the organization.
Al Awfi is reported to have contacted the leaders of the rehabilitation program prior to his surrender.
He is reported to be scheduled to return to the rehablilitation program.
According to the Middle East Online Saudi security officials assert Al Harbi has informed them that Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
is sponsoring al Qaeda.
Listed as a former captive who "re-engaged in terrorism"
On May 27, 2009, the Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
published a "fact sheet" listing captives who "re-engaged in terrorism".
The fact sheet listed al Awfi and Al Shihri.
BBC Interview
Peter Taylor interviewed Al Harbi, who he called "Mohammed al-Awfi", for the BBC NewsBBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
.
Mohammed al-Awfi told him that his interrogations in Bagram
Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility , also called the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, is a United States-run prison located next to Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.It was formerly known as the Bagram Collection Point...
involved brutal abuse to his genitals.
He attributed his escape to join the jihadists because the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Americans was more powerful than the arguments offered in the Care rehabilitation program. He said that once he was in Yemen, with the jihadists:
Taylor reported being skeptical of Mohammed al-Awfi's account of his escape to Yemen and his subsequent defection.
External links
- Former al-Qaeda member alleges US abuse in Afghanistan video from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
January 13, 2010 - Innocents and Foot Soldiers: The Stories of the 14 Saudis Just Released From Guantánamo Andy Worthington