Former Guantanamo inmate accused of attack on US ambassador to Libya

[Robb]

Former Guantanamo inmate accused of attack on US ambassador to Libya

The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi may have been led by a former inmate of Guantanamo Bay who was sent back to Libya by President George W. Bush

US intelligence officials believe Sufyan Ben Qumu, one of the leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, is likely to have been behind the assault.

Mr Ben Qumu, who now lives openly in the Libyan town of Derna, 150 miles to the east of Benghazi, was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007. He was imprisoned in Tripoli upon his return to Libya, but later freed by Col Muammar Gaddafi’s government.

The 53-year-old has so far refused to comment on repeated allegations that Ansar al-Sharia members were present during last week’s raid, which killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.

Most Libyan authorities however, including the militias charged with security in Benghazi, believe it was organised by, and featured members of the group.....

Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9555135/Former-Guantanamo-inmate-accused-of-attack-on-US-ambassador-to-Libya.html

[The Magistrate]

1. Interesting Indeed, Sir

It would be useful to know how, and when, he came to be in Guantanamo.

If, prior to that, he had an established character as a radical, that would make his release by Gaddafi a thing worth serious explanation....

[pinboy3niner]

2. Here's a link for background:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-libyan-detainee-now-us-ally-of-sorts.html?_r=5

[Robb]

9. It depends on how you define "radical."

Courtesy Wikileaks (PDF).

Short version: Fighter, not a lover. Picked up by Pakistani police in Peshawar in December 2001, while he was probably trying to get back into Libya. It's a good read.

[The Magistrate]

12. Thank You, Sir

Seems like an experienced fellow.

One wonders if Gahddafi's people tried to play him as a double agent when they let him out. Not much of a reason from the record for them to do anything but lose the key, otherwise....

[get the red out]

3. The Republicans are already using this

Disgusting. Stupid FB crap.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Let me guess

The Republicans are screaming bloody murder about him being released from Gitmo, slipping in a charge that Obama is an apologist, and omitting any mention of his having been released by the Bushies in 2007.

[get the red out]

6. Oh yes, Quite!

Bingo! The usual.

[treestar]

13. How well you know Republicans

Exactly.

Even when Bush let someone go, he did a botched job of it!

[leftynyc]

5. I don't use facebook

Has anyone mentioned he was released in 2007?

[get the red out]

7. They are saying the President lied to us

By saying this was an unplanned attack up until now. The general "Democrats can't keep us safe" routine. So disgusting.

[leftynyc]

10. Do they really want a body count chart?

I'm thinking no.

[ProSense]

11. They're calling it a terrorist attack, but still saying it was unplanned

White House calls Libya assault "terrorist attack"

<...>

The White House's latest comments on the attack come as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton formed an "accountability review board" to investigate the brutal assault that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Clinton named former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering to chair the panel, the Reuters news agency reports....Carney didn't clarify whether the Obama administration thought the attack was planned in advance, Reuters reports...On Wednesday, Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told senators that the United States doesn't have specific intelligence that the attack was planned in advance, Reuters reports.

"The best information we have now, the facts that we have now, indicate that this was an opportunistic attack" on the consulate, Olsen said, according to Reuters. "The attack began and evolved and escalated over several hours."

<...>

Sufyan bin Qumu was released from Guantanamo in 2007 to the Libyan regime headed by Muammar Qaddafi. Qaddafi jailed him, but he was then set free on a promise to renounce violence. When the Arab Spring uprising began in Libya, Qumu became part of the rebel movement which eventually toppled Qaddafi...Miller said. "There is some intel about him but it's way too early to verify these reports we've seen that he is the prime suspect or the prime mover. Way too early."

<...>

"Whether it was pre-planned or not is tough because in this environment, in Libya," says Miller. "In a normal place when people show up with weapons and cars and an effective assault, you say that requires pre-operational planning. Libya's a place that went through 13 months of this. There's all kinds of weapons and militias with cars and weapons, so it's the one kind of place this could happen spontaneously."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57517093/white-house-calls-libya-assault-terrorist-attack/

The suspect Bush released to Qaddafi is interesting.

[kestrel91316]

8. "....A former inmate of Guantanamo Bay who was sent back to Libya by President George W. Bush...."

No shock here.