Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman

ISN: 027

Nationality: Yemeni

The following is a summary of the allegations against Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman 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.  

Uthman Uthman told US interrogators Shaykh Muqbil al Wadi provided him money to travel to Afghanistan. Shaykh al Wadi’s followers declared their willingness to follow Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden himself was strongly influenced by the anti-Western teachings of Shaykh al Wadi.

Uthman says he flew from Yemen to Pakistan in March 2001. He then went to Afghanistan.

Abdu Sharqawi, Walid Bin Attash, and Yasin Basardah identified Uthman as a Bin Laden bodyguard. Ahmed Ghailani said Uthman was a member of Al Qaeda.

The Yemeni Political Security Agency said Uthman was a member of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan who went by the alias Huthayfa al Adani. Walid Bin Attash identified Uthman’s codename as Huzayfah al Adani.

Ahmed Ghailani said Huthayfa al Yemeni fought on the front lines with the Taliban around 1999. He added Huthayfa trained at Al Qaeda’s al Faruq training camp in 1999. Ghailani said he saw him fight on the front lines near Tora Bora.

Abdullah Ahmed said Hudayfah the Yemeni was a bodyguard who was among Bin Laden’s security staff at Tora Bora. Ahmed was one of two people in charge of selecting Bin Laden’s security detail.

Mohammed Al Qahtani and Abd al Hilala said Uthman fought on the front lines with the Taliban. Mohammed Al Qahtani also said Uthman received advanced training at Al Qaeda’s Tarnak Farm training camp.

Uthman denies being a member of Al Qaeda and says he went to Afghanistan to teach the Koran to children. The unclassified summary of evidence for Uthman’s 2006 Administrative Review Board says he was unable to provide the name of the village where he taught the Koran for nine months.

Pakistan says Uthman was captured by Pakistani forces on December 15, 2001 while attempting to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan. He was captured with 31 other men.  The US government believes the group consisted primarily of Bin Laden bodyguards and other Al Qaeda members in charge of his protection. The group is referred to as the “Dirty 30” in US intelligence documents because US interrogators believe their claims of innocence to be untrue.

Ali Al Bahlul, Mohammed Al Qahtani, and Abdul Shalabi were also part of the “Dirty 30.”

Uthman says he turned himself in to Pakistani authorities so he could be taken to the Yemeni embassy. He says they turned him over to the US instead and claimed he was a member of Al Qaeda.

The group was held in a Pakistani prison in Peshawar for 15 days.

Mohammad al Zaylai, who was captured with Uthman, says the Pakistani warden of the prison where the group was held told them to tell US interrogators they were in Afghanistan to teach the Koran and study religion.  

On December 26, 2001 Uthman was transferred to US custody at the Kandahar Detention Facility.

He was transferred to Guantanamo on January 16, 2002.

Uthman was recommended for continued detention by Obama’s inter-agency Guantanamo task force in January 2010.

In April 2013 he was deemed eligible to have his ongoing imprisonment evaluated by a Periodic Review Board. A hearing date to reconsider his status has not yet been set. 

Abdul Rahman Shalabi

ISN: 042

Nationality: Saudi

The following is a summary of the allegations against Abdul Rahman Shalabi 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.  

Nine Guantanamo prisoners said Shalabi was a bodyguard for Osama Bin Laden.

After being shown a photo of Shalabi, KSM, Ahmad Ghailani, Ramzi Bin al Shibh, and Ahmed Al Darbi each separately identified Shalabi as a bodyguard for Bin Laden. When shown a photo of Shalabi, Abdu Sharqawi and Sanad Kazimi both said that Shalabi was a Bin Laden bodyguard who used the alias Saqr al-Madani. Salim Hamdan said he knew Shalabi as Saqr, a Bin Laden bodyguard. Mohammad Al Qahtani and Walid Bin Attash also said Shalabi served as a bodyguard for Bin Laden.  

Shalabi appears in a January 2000 video released by Al Qaeda along with other Osama Bin Laden bodyguards.

Walid Bin Attash said that in July 2001, KSM took Shalabi and other Al Qaeda members to Karachi to teach them English and American behaviors in preparation for a canceled Southeast Asia portion of the 9/11 attacks. Shalabi’s DAB says that Al Qaeda planned to highjack US airliners in Southeast Asia and “destroy them in midair” on 9/11. That part of the 9/11 attacks was canceled.

Israeli Military Intelligence identified Shalabi as having obtained training in Karachi for an operation similar to the 9/11 attacks.

Shalabi said he is not a member of Al Qaeda. Shalabi said he went to Afghanistan to teach the Koran. He said that he taught the Koran to children at a mosque in Afghanistan. According to his 2008 ARB, Shalabi was asked how he taught the children without speaking their language. Shalabi replied that he taught the children how to read the Koran in Arabic, but that it was up to the children’s parents to explain the meanings of the Koran to them because he could not speak their language.

Shalabi was captured by Pakistani forces in December 2001 attempting to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan. Shalabi was captured with a group of 31 other suspected Arab Al Qaeda fighters.

Shalabi arrived at Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, the day the first War on Terror prisoners arrived at the prison.

The summary for this 2006 ARB says that Shalabi affirmed his intention to cooperate in every way with the US government.

In January 2007 Shalabi said, “Go to Iraq, I will kill you there.” This was interpreted as a threat against the guards at Guantanamo.  

In January 2010 Obama’s Guantanamo Task Force recommended Shalabi for continued detention. 

Abdu Ali al Haji Sharqawi

ISN: 1457

Nationality: Yemeni

The following is a summary of the allegations against Abdu Sharqawi 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.   

Abdu told US interrogators that he sent promising Yemeni Al Qaeda recruits to Afghanistan to become bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden. Abdu’s DAB says he was responsible for moving money and fighters into Afghanistan prior to the fall of the Taliban. His DAB also says that after the Taliban fell, Abdu provided assistance to hundreds of foreign fighters seeking to flee from Afghanistan to Pakistan or to their home countries. Abdu said that if he was released he would likely rejoin Osama Bin Laden. Abdu was captured in a raid by Pakistan’s ISI on a suspected safe house in Karachi in February 2002. Abdu was later transferred to US custody. He arrived at Guantanamo in September 2004.

The unclassified summary one of Abdu’s ARBs said that Abdu stated he did not accept Osama Bin Laden’s claim that American civilians were legitimate targets because they paid taxes and supported the American government. His ARB summary also says that while Abdu stated Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are against the United States, his support of al Qaeda did not put him in opposition of the United States.

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