Sanad Yislam al Kazimi

ISN: 1453

Nationality: Yemeni

The following is a summary of the allegations against Sanad Yislam al Kazimi found in publicly available US military documents. If US military documents about this prisoner are inaccurate or misleading then this summary will be as well. The introduction to this set of summaries explains some of the terms used below.   

Sanad told US interrogators that he was arrested in 1994 for destroying tombstones in Yemen after a fatwa was issued by an Islamic sheik saying that tombstones were illegal under Islamic law. He also said that he was trained at the Al Qaeda training camp Al Faruq. He said he served as a bodyguard for Osama Bin Laden. This claim is corroborated by 4 other Guantanamo prisoners. Sanad admitted involvement in an al-Qaida plot to fly an airplane into a ship in Port Rashid, Arab Emirates, a port often used by US Navy vessels. Sanad later said he had never heard of the plot.

Sanad told US interrogators, “that all Muslims are against the US, even Muslims in the US,” and that he could raise 100,000 dollars in any mosque in the US in 30 minutes for Muslims to use to fight Americans in any country. Sanad also expressed his support for Osama bin Laden and made threats against US personnel including the President.  

Sanad’s DAB says that he was arrested after two Al Qaeda operatives cooperated with local authorities and lured Sanad to Dubai. Sanad was later transferred to US custody. He arrived at Guantanamo in September 2004.

Sanad was recommended for prosecution by Obama’s Guantanamo task force in January 2010.