Tolfiq Nassar Ahmed Al Bihani

ISN: 893

Nationality: Yemeni

Guantanamo prisoner Tolfiq Al Bihani admitted to attending an Al Qeada terrorist training camp as well as being part of a group that fought against forces allied with the United States in the first few months of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. 

During his time at Guantanamo, Tolfiq has threatened to commit acts of violence against Americans and terrorist attacks against the United States if he is released. He remains at Guantanamo, even though he was approved for transfer or release in January 2010, if certain conditions could be met. 

This summary of the information used by the United States to justify the continued detention of Tolfiq is based primarily on a U.S. military document written in February 2008 during the Bush Administration. If any information in that “Detainee Assessment” brief (DAB) is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete, this summary will be as well. 

Training, fighting and family ties

Tolfiq Al Bihani told U.S. interrogators he was recruited to join Al Qaeda by his brother, Mansur Al Bihani, and Abu Ansar Al Yemeni in February 2001. Tolfiq’s DAB describes Mansur as an, “Al Qaeda associated facilitator, financier, operational planner and explosives expert.” 

Tolfiq Al Bihani told U.S. interrogators he trained at Al Qaeda’s Al Faruq terrorist training camp before joining a group of fighters in Kandahar that fought against forces that were allied with the U.S. military. Tolfiq said Americans used jet fighters and that the fighting in Kandahar increased, before his group decided to flee to Iran. 

The Taliban stronghold of Kandahar fell Dec. 7, 2001, according to CBS News. 

Other Guantanamo prisoners corroborated key aspects of Tolfiq’s admitted ties to Al Qaeda. 

Former Guantanamo prisoner Abd Al Razaq Abdallah Hamid Ibrahim Al Sharikh (SA-067) said Tolfiq received training at Al Faruq in 2001 with Tolfiq’s brothers Zakaria and Ghaleb Nassar Al Bihani (YM-128). 

Ghaleb was also a Guantanamo prisoner. Tolfiq’s DAB said the U.S. military concluded Ghaleb was an Al Qaeda member who received explosives training. Ghaleb was transferred from Guantanamo to Oman on Jan. 16, 2017. 

Former Guantanamo prisoner Humud Dakhil Humud Said Al Jadan (SA-230) said he provided Tolfiq and Ghaleb basic militant training at the Al Qaeda Al Faruq training camp.

Terrorist leader and Guantanamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah said Tolfiq fought with Al Qaeda in the final days before the Taliban fell in Afghanistan. Tolfiq’s DAB states the “final days” refers to the period of approximately October 2001 to March 2002. 

Capture

In late 2001 or early 2002, Iranian police arrested Tolfiq for being in the country illegally. He remained in Iranian custody until mid-March 2002, when he was transferred to Afghan custody. Tolfiq was transferred to US custody at Bagram in about mid-December 2002, before he was transferred to Guantanamo Feb. 6, 2003.

Threats against Americans

In March 2006, Tolfiq said that if he were released, he would travel to Afghanistan and wage jihad with the intent of killing Americans. In a letter to his brother Muhammad, Tolfiq wrote, “I hope Allah provides me martyrdom for his cause.”

Tolfiq has verbally threatened to kill U.S. personnel on numerous occasions. He said he was going to kill President Bush, he needed to kill all Americans, he would go to America and fly another plane (referencing the 9/11 terrorist attacks), and that he would cut off the head of a U.S. guard.

Tolfiq said he works for Osama bin Laden and follows bin Laden’s rules.

Conditional Detention

In January 2010, Obama’s Guantanamo task force recommended Tolfiq be held in conditional detention, but that he could be transferred from Guantanamo if the security situation in Yemen improved, an appropriate rehabilitation program or third-country resettlement option became available, or Yemen demonstrated the ability to mitigate any threat posed by Tolfiq’s transfer.

The final report of the Guantanamo Review Task Force, released Jan. 22, 2010, highlighted the concerns of Obama Administration officials had regarding transferring Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen.

The report stated that Al Qaeda was gaining strongholds in certain regions of the country and that the government of Yemen was facing a rebellion in other regions. The report also stated Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the branch of Al Qaeda based in Yemen, was involved in the attempted bombing of an airplane headed to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

Following the attempted attack, President Obama issued a moratorium Jan. 5, 2010 on transferring Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen. One Yemeni Guantanamo prisoner, Mohammed Odaini, was transferred to Yemen in July 2010 because a federal judge ordered that he be released.

Even though President Obama lifted the moratorium on transferring Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen on May 23, 2013, no other Yemenis have been transferred back to Yemen since January 2010. Since the initial ban, however, many Yemeni prisoners were transferred to other countries during the Obama Administration, including Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Montenegro, Italy, Serbia, and Cape Verde. 

Trump Administration

During his State of the Union address in January, President Trump criticized decisions by previous administrations to release alleged terrorists detained by the U.S.

“In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield,” he said.

If Tolfiq were to be transferred to another country, it would likely require the U.S. State Department to negotiate the terms and conditions of the transfer.

Former Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dissolved the State Department’s “Office of the Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure,” an office created by the Obama administration to negotiate prisoner transfers.

Only one prisoner has been transferred from Guantanamo during the Trump Administration. Ahmed Al Darbi was transferred to Saudi Arabia in May to serve the remaining nine years in his 13-year sentence, which was part of the agreement he made with the U.S. government when he pled guilty in February 2014 to involvement in a 2002 Al Qaeda terrorist attack on a civilian ship.

Yemen is currently in the middle of a brutal civil war.

Tofiq is one of 11 Guantanamo prisoners who have filed a motion in federal court requesting that the court determine that the U.S. government can no longer legally detain them.

Tolfiq Al Bihani has been imprisoned at Guantanamo for 15 years, eight of which have taken place after the Obama Administration approved that he could be transferred if certain security conditions could be met.