From The Times
March 13, 2009
Afghans pressed to explain release of Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul
Michael Evans, Defence Editor and Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent
The Afghan Government was asked last night to explain why it released a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who has gone on to mastermind attacks on British troops in Helmand.
Patrick Mercer, Conservative chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism subcommittee, said it was extraordinary that a man of his record could be freed to go back to his old ways. Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, who operates under the nom de guerre Mullah Abdullah Zakir, has been in charge of Taleban attacks in the province since early last year when he was released from prison in Kabul.
He had been transferred there from Guantánamo in December 2007 after a US review board deemed him no longer a threat. Taleban sources have since told The Times that he was a senior commander at the time of his capture in 2001 and that the Afghan authorities should have known that.
Mr Mercer said: âThe Americans presumably let him go from Guantánamo Bay in order for him to be kept in custody in Afghanistan. We need to know why the Afghan authorities released him.â
More on the link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5898261.ece
March 13, 2009
Afghans pressed to explain release of Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul
Michael Evans, Defence Editor and Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent
The Afghan Government was asked last night to explain why it released a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who has gone on to mastermind attacks on British troops in Helmand.
Patrick Mercer, Conservative chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism subcommittee, said it was extraordinary that a man of his record could be freed to go back to his old ways. Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, who operates under the nom de guerre Mullah Abdullah Zakir, has been in charge of Taleban attacks in the province since early last year when he was released from prison in Kabul.
He had been transferred there from Guantánamo in December 2007 after a US review board deemed him no longer a threat. Taleban sources have since told The Times that he was a senior commander at the time of his capture in 2001 and that the Afghan authorities should have known that.
Mr Mercer said: âThe Americans presumably let him go from Guantánamo Bay in order for him to be kept in custody in Afghanistan. We need to know why the Afghan authorities released him.â
More on the link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5898261.ece