Al-Qaeda Jihadi Still Receiving Luxury Treatment at Gitmo After Transfer Delay

Under the pretrial agreement, the detainee, Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi, 39, will spend a
ICRC, via Associated Press

A Saudi native jihadist held at the U.S. Guantánamo military prison in Cuba will keep enjoying the perks granted to him for becoming a witness for the prosecution now that authorities can no longer repatriate him until the U.S. and the Sunni kingdom finalize the agreement for his release.

Ahmed al Darbi, 43, “has complied with all terms of his plea agreement,” Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Cmdr. Sarah Higgins told the Miami Herald.

“We await assurances from the Saudi Arabian government to move forward on his departure,” Cmdr. Higgins said, adding that “Darbi will remain at Guantánamo until all transfer details are concluded” in the meantime.

It is the Pentagon’s intentions to resolve the lingering transfer issues “soon,” declared the commander.

In the meantime, Darbi will not pass his penitentiary days like many other Gitmo detainees.

Breitbart News recently pointed out:

The U.S. military’s Guantánamo Bay detention center is continuously rewarding … [Darbi] with “comfortable cabin-style” life of luxury that allows him to garden, paint, exercise, learn English on a personal laptop, cook meals, and even watch American sitcoms, reports the Miami Herald.

The Trump administration would make such decisions “on a case-by-case basis,” according to the White House National Security Council (NSC).

In other words, the Trump administration may not hold all Gitmo detainees indefinitely. President Trump suggested he plans to send newly captured jihadists to Gitmo after he signed the executive order to keep the facility running.

Gitmo still holds 41 detainees, including 26 deemed “forever prisoners,” or too dangerous to release, and five deemed ready to be liberated.

The Miami Herald noted:

The release [of Saudi Darbi] is widely seen as a test of the ability of the Pentagon’s chief war crimes prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, to deliver on a plea deal. Darbi pleaded guilty to terrorism and other war crimes during the Obama administration, on Feb. 20, 2014, and testified against two other men awaiting trials at the war court — the alleged architect of the Oct. 12, 2000, USS Cole bombing and an Iraqi man accused of commanding al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan after 9/11.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to keep Gitmo open, renovate it, and bring in newly captured groups. The jihadi rehab program the Darbi is supposed to attend in Saudi Arabia is also supposed to provide the beneficiaries with a comfortable life.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.