Nationality: Libyan
The following is a summary of the allegations against Ismael Al Bakush 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.
Ismael Al Bakush told US interrogators
that he traveled to Afghanistan to join the Islamic mujahedeen and fight Soviet
forces in 1991. The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. He could not
have fought the Soviets in Afghanistan at that time.
Al Bakush said after the
Soviet withdrawal, he remained in Afghanistan and fought the Soviet-supported Afghan
government. He said beginning in 1994 he worked in Sudan for two years selling
perfume imported from Pakistan. He said towards the end of 1994 he joined the
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
KSM said the term “ready
to wear perfumes” referred to military-grade explosives purchased from
Afghanistan and sold in Pakistan. KSM said “local perfumes” referred to
explosives manufactured by Al Qaeda operatives from locally available
compounds. Al Bakush’s DAB
says it is possible his reference to selling perfume may have indicated he was
involved in facilitating the movement of explosives from Pakistan to Sudan.
Al Bakush said in 1997 he
was told by the Sudanese government to leave the country. He said he flew to
Syria where he was arrested and tortured for three months because they thought
me might be an Israeli spy. He said he returned to Afghanistan later that year.
Al Bakush said he fought
as a member of LIFG alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance in 2000
and 2001. He said he continued to fight against the Northern Alliance after it
became an ally of the United States after the 9/11 attacks. He said that he did
not fight against US forces.
Ismael Al Bakush was captured
by Pakistani authorities at a suspected safe house. He was sent to Guantanamo
on August 5, 2002.
The Libyan External
Security Organization (ESO) said Al Bakush received militant training under the
supervision of Pakistani Intelligence in a border region between Pakistan and
Iran.
The ESO reported Ismael Al
Bakush trained at Al Qaeda’s Al Faruq training camp.
Four LIFG members, Abu Abdallah
Al-Sadiq, Sami Mustafa al-Sadi, Malik Al Andalusi, and Nasir Al Maghribi, identified
Al Bakush as a member of the LIFG Military Committee.
Al Sadiq and Al Sadi said Al
Bakush was an explosives trainer for LIFG. Al Andalusi and Al Maghribi said Al Bakush
was an explosives expert.
The unclassified summary
of evidence for Ismael Al Bakush’s 2006 ARB
says Al Bakush wanted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to be overthrown. Al Bakush
said he wanted to be released to a non-Arabic country. He said he did not
believe the Libyan government would not treat him well if he was sent back to
Libya.
In January 2010 Obama’s
Guantanamo task force recommended Ismael Al Bakush for continued detention.
Libyan rebels overthrew
the government of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi with the help of NATO air
strikes in 2011.
Rival militias continue to
fight each other for power in Libya to this day.
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