Evidence Links ‘High-Value’ Detainee to Al Qaeda

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – A detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who previously lived in the United States, denied he had any involvement with an al Qaeda group or had planned to reenter the country to commit a terrorist act.

Majid Khan, a native of Pakistan whose family lives in Baltimore, Md., insisted during his Feb. 8 combatant status review tribunal hearing that he is not an enemy combatant. Pentagon officials today released a transcript of the hearing held at the Guantanamo facility.

The tribunal was an administrative hearing to determine only if Khan meets the criteria to be designated an enemy combatant.

Facts presented during the hearing linked Khan to al Qaeda and noted that he planned to use falsified travel documents to return to the United States.

Evidence presented during the tribunal revealed that in early 2003, Khan tapped Uzair Paracha, a U.S. permanent resident alien he met in Pakistan, to impersonate him in the United States. Khan wanted to make it appear that he had never left the United States and planned to use Paracha to obtain immigration documents that would enable him to reenter illegally. Paracha recently was found guilty of material support to terrorism and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Other evidence linked Khan to Lyman Faris, also imprisoned for providing material support and resources to al Qaeda, as well as conspiracy for providing al Qaeda information about possible U.S. targets. Faris was convicted in May 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The evidence also revealed Khan was involved in transporting people across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and had expressed a desire to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff by detonating a suicide vest.

Presented with evidence that a previously convicted terrorist had a debit card and five other identification cards in Khan’s name, Khan said he had no intention of using them himself.

Rather, he said, these documents were to be used by “desperate” people in Pakistan to travel to the United States so they could apply for asylum or refugee status.

Khan submitted a “statement of torture” at the tribunal, claiming he was mentally tortured during his detainment. Among his complaints were that he and other detainees were given low-quality soap and other toiletries, noisy fans and deflated balls for recreation that hardly bounced.

He said he protested by refusing to eat or drink, and complained that his captors responded by force-feeding intravenously. Khan said he also protested by chewing through one of his own arteries.

Khan was the 13th “high-value” detainee at Guantanamo Bay to receive a combatant status review tribunal hearing at the facility.

Long-Term Iraqi Stability Requires Rule of Law, Officials Say

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2007 – Security progress in Baghdad requires more than military success; it also requires advances in Iraq’s institutions, including its criminal justice system, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today.

“We can and will win every battle, but we cannot win the peace alone,” Navy Adm. Mark Fox said during a media roundtable in Baghdad. “Even-handed justice is an essential part of every democratic society.”

After decades under Saddam Hussein’s repressive regime, “the Iraqi government is creating an independent judicial system to ensure that the rule of law applies to everyone,” he said.

James Santelle, Justice attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, joined Fox in sharing perceptions after a visit yesterday to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq and speaking about steps under way to continue advances being made.

“Rule of law is a critically important part of the united Iraqi-coalition force effort to preserve the peace and to ensure the safety and security for all Iraqis,” Santelle said.

Rule of law requires confidence in the institutions of government, provincial and city governments, elected officials and police. That is a tall order, Santelle acknowledged, because Saddam’s brutal police force left widespread, lingering fear and distrust.

As they look toward the future, the Iraqi government and coalition are focusing on what Santelle called the three touchstones of a good rule of law operation: courts, prisons and police.

He said his visit to the Central Criminal Court gave him optimism that it’s possible to break beyond past wrongs.

“If there is any illustration of rule of law in operation here today in Iraq, it is just that,” he said, citing the CCCI’s operations and its combined staff of police, law enforcement agents and officers, judicial officers, and corrections officers. All are working together in Baghdad and other Iraqi providences to ensure rule of law is promoted, he said.

Santelle cited the facts that crimes are being investigated fairly and that courageous judges are hearing evidence of crimes as examples of positive strides.

“That is a reflection of a civilized society,” he said. “That is a reflection of a rule-of-law operation that does, in fact, work.”

Joint training programs are ensuring that the principles of rule of law go to all levels of the criminal justice system, and new courthouses and other facilities are being built or renovated to support this system, he said.

As these efforts take shape, Santelle said he’s been impressed by the many courageous Iraqi leaders -- judges, prison officials, police officers, non-governmental organizations and entities among them --pursuing rule-of-law principles while operating in the midst of violence.

“That is a sign of tremendous promise and future for this country … (that) speaks well, not only for the present generation, but also those to come,” he said.