Khalden training camp
The Khalden training camp (also transliterated as khaldan) was one of the oldest and most well-known military training camps in Afghanistan.[1] While some reporters repeat descriptions offered by US intelligence officials that the camp was an al-Qaeda training camp, other reporters note that the camp was set up during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, with the support of the Central Intelligence Agency.[2][3][4] Having attended one of these camps has triggered suspicion on many of the detainees in the War on Terror. The Khalden training camp was led by Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, who was captured in late 2001.[5]
Ahmed Ressam, the Millennium Bomber, said he attended the camp using the alias "Nabil", beginning in April 1998 for five to six months.[6][7] He said Khalden Camp then generally hosted 50–100 trainees at any time, and he trained there in light weapons, handguns, small machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPGs), explosives (including TNT, C4 plastic explosives, and black plastic explosives), poisons (including cyanide), poison gas, sabotage, target selection, urban warfare, tactics (including assassinations), and security.[6][7][8] Trainees were from Jordan, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Turkey, Sweden, Germany, and France.[6] During the time he was there, he met Zacarias Moussaoui.[7][8]
During the early years of the War in Afghanistan, the Bush administration described the Khalden Camp as an al-Qaeda training facility, an assertion used as evidence of an alleged connection to al-Qaeda for Abu Zubaydah and more than 50 other men held as enemy combatants at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[9] Since 2006, however, this allegation has been contested by the 9/11 Commission Report, Brynjar Lia, head of the international terrorism and global jihadism at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment; and unclassified records from the detainees' tribunal reviews (CSRT)s at Guantanamo.[9][10][11][12][13]
Zubaydah testified in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) that the Khalden Camp was at such odds with al-Qaeda and bin Laden that it was closed by the Taliban in 2000, at bin Laden's request.[9] This account was corroborated by two other detainees, Noor Uthman Muhammed, alleged by the U.S. Government to have been the emir, or leader, of the Khalden Camp; and Khalid Sulayman Jaydh Al Hubayshi, a close friend of Zubaydah.[10][11] In addition, Muhamed's charge sheet refers to the closing of the Khalden camp at the request of terrorist leaders.[14]
Brynjar Lia wrote in his 2008 book that an ideological conflict, between the leaders of the Khalden Camp and the Taliban and al-Qaeda, led to the closing of the Khalden Camp.[13] Zubaydah, Khalid Sulayman Jaydh Al Hubayshi, and Noor Uthman Muhammed confirmed this divide in their CSRT testimony.[9][10][11] Of the 57 detainees the U.S. Government claims are associated with the Khalden Camp, 27 have been released, including Zubaydah's friend Al Hubayshi.[15]
Individuals alleged to have attended the Khalden training camp
Abdullah Khadr[16] |
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Abdurahman Khadr[17][18] |
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Ahmed Ajaj[20] |
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Ahmed Ressam[21] |
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Feroz Abbasi[22] |
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Gouled Hassan Dourad[23] |
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Ibrahim Elgabrowny[20] |
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Mahmoud Abouhalima[20] |
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Majed Moqed[24] |
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Mohamed Rashid al-Owhali[22][25] |
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Mokhtar Belmokhtar[26] |
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Mushabib al-Hamlan[27][28] |
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Omar al-Faruq[22] |
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Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami[29] | ||
Ramzi Yousef[20] |
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Richard Reid[22] |
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Saajid Badat[22] |
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Satam al-Suqami[30] |
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Zacarias Moussaoui[31] |
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Mohammed Abd Al Al Qadir[32] |
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Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Habayshi[33] |
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Noor Uthman Muhammaed[34] |
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Riyad Bil Mohammed Tahir Nasseri[35] |
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Abdullah Ali Al Utaybi[36] |
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Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi[37] |
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Hisham Sliti[38] |
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Ahmed Hassan Jamil Suleyman[39] |
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Riyad Bil Mohammed Tahir Nasseri[35] |
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Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy[40] |
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Umar Abdullah Al Kunduzi[41] |
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Omar Nasiri[42][43] |
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Idris Ahmed Abdu Qader Idris[44] |
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Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser[45] |
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Lufti Bin Ali[46] |
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Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari[47][48] |
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Adil Charkaoui[49] |
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Raouf Hannachi[49] |
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References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Son of Al Qaeda, Frontline (PBS)
- ↑ The Terrorist Within, The Seattle Times
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi Unclassified Verbatim Combatant Status Review Tribunal Transcript, pp. 65–73, Department of Defense Archived June 29, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Noor Uthamn Muhammed Unclassified Verbatim Combatant Status Review Tribunal, p. 15, Department of Defense
- ↑ 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 22 July 2006
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Brynjar Lia, Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus'ab al-Suri pg. 242–243, Columbia University Press, 2008
- ↑ "Noor Uthamn Muhammed Charge Sheets", Department of Defense Website
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 'I was never in al-Qaeda,' newly freed Khadr says: Released after 14 months in Pakistani jails, he calls himself an aspiring businessman[dead link], Globe and Mail, December 9, 2005
- ↑ Khadr clears Charkaoui, casts doubt on case, press release from Justice for Mohamed Harkat, July 14, 2004
- ↑ Ordinary lad — or jihad conscript? mirrored Toronto Star, December 2, 2003
- ↑ Testimony of Abdurahman Khadr as a witness in the trial against Charkaoui, July 13, 2004
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Another Angle on al-Zawahiri's Call to Action, Stratfor, December 21, 2005
- ↑ Going to Camp, Seattle Times, July 7, 2002
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 The Khaldan Alumni (.pdf)[dead link], Toronto Star, December 9, 2005
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States – notes to chapter 7, 9/11 Commission
- ↑ Hijacking suspect 'was bin Laden bodyguard', The Guardian, September 30, 2001
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks, Global Security
- ↑ 911 Commission: Notes to Chapter 7, 911 Commission
- ↑ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Rafiq Bin Bashir Bin Jalud Al Hami's Administrative Review Board hearing – page 151
- ↑ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States – notes to chapter 7, 911 commission
- ↑ Indictment of ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI, US Department of Justice
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Mohammed Abd Al Al Qadir Administrative Review Board – page 18
- ↑ Summarized transcripts (.pdf) from Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Habayshi Combatant Status Review Tribunal – pages 65–70
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Noor Uthman Muhammaed's Combatant Status Review Tribunal – October 19, 2004 page 264
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Riyad Bil Mohammed Tahir Nasseri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal – October 21, 2004 page 148
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Abdullah Ali Al Utaybi's Combatant Status Review Tribunal – September 28, 2004 page 237
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Administrative Review Board, May 4, 2005 – page 51
- ↑ Summary of Evidence (.pdf) prepared for Hisham Sliti's Combatant Status Review Tribunals – November 19, 2004 – page 62
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Ahmed Hassan Jamil Suleyman Administrative Review Board – page 45
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy Administrative Review Board, May 2, 2005 – page 48
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Umar Abdullah Al Kunduzi Administrative Review Board – pages 59–61
- ↑ Reid Morden, Running with, and from, al-Qaeda, The Globe and Mail, November 25, 2006
- ↑ Infiltrating Al-Qaeda: At a terrorist camp, a French spy meets the battling Khadr brothers[dead link], Macleans (magazine), November 27, 2006
- ↑ Summary of Evidence memo (.pdf) prepared for Idris Ahmed Abdu Qader Idris's Combatant Status Review Tribunal – September 30, 2004 page 246
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser Administrative Review Board May 18, 2005 – page 35
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Lufti Bin Ali Administrative Review Board – page 19
- ↑ documents (.pdf) from Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari's Combatant Status Review Tribunal
- ↑ Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Faiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari Administrative Review Board – page 31
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 Dozens of Canadians join Jihad terror camps Immigrants recruited, RCMP says, Justice for Mohamed Harkat Cite error: Invalid
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