webfact Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 British suicide bomber in Iraq had won compensation for Guantanamo stay By Guy Faulconbridge and Ali Abdelaty Still image shows British militant Abu-Zakariya al-Britani smiling and seated inside a car with wires hanging off him at an unknown location, in this undated video taken from social media. Social media website/via Reuters LONDON/CAIRO (Reuters) - An Islamic State suicide bomber from Britain who blew himself up in an attack on Iraqi forces this week had been given compensation for his detention in the Guantanamo Bay military prison, Western security sources said on Wednesday. Islamic State militants said Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, a British citizen who was originally known as Ronald Fiddler and then cast himself as Jamal Udeen al-Harith, detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base southwest of Mosul this week. The militants also published a photograph of the smiling bomber surrounded by wires in the seat of what appeared to be the car in which he blew himself up. The Islamic State statements could not be independently verified by Reuters but three Western security sources said it was highly likely that Britani was the bomber and now dead. Originally from the northern English city of Manchester, he converted to Islam in his 20s. He was detained in Afghanistan by U.S. special forces and taken to Guantanamo in 2002. Britani was freed in 2004 after the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair lobbied for his release and later travelled to Syria to fight with Islamic State. A spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday the government was not able to verify his identity. "There is no independent confirmation of the identity of this man who is believed to be dead in Mosul," he told reporters. Asked whether he believed Britani had moved on from Syria he said: "I am not going to comment on intelligence matters". He also said the conflict in Syria meant it was impossible to verify events there. Britain reached a civil damages settlement with British former Guantanamo Bay inmates in 2010, then-Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke told parliament at the time, but he did not disclose the size of the payouts, citing confidentiality agreements. The Daily Mail reported that Britani had been awarded $1.25 million by the British government after claiming British agents knew or were complicit in his alleged mistreatment. May's spokesman declined to comment on the details of any payments or whether the government had been monitoring Britani. Britani's family, in a statement to the BBC, said their son had not received a million pounds in compensation and that they believed that figure was a group settlement, including costs, covering other inmates too. In a statement posted by his office on Twitter, Blair said the Mail newspaper had led a campaign pushing for Guantanamo detainees' release, and it had been supported by lawmakers from May's Conservatives. "The fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties with desire to protect our security, and we were likely to be attacked whatever course we took," he said. (Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan in London; Editing by Stephen Addison and Dominic Evans) -- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Oops, seems his release was a bit premature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I'm sure the families of those killed in Iraq wish this guy was still in Guantanamo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitrevie Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 It appears the campaign for his release was led by none other than the Daily Hail and supported by one Boris Johnson. Of course the Daily Hail is now trying to pin the blame elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vogie Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Pay scumbags compensation and then lock up British soldiers via a bent solicitor. Says it all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple1 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Upon reading the Wikipedia entry about the OP person (converted to Islam in 1994) it would seem that he was never found to be an enemy combatant or supporter of the Taliban during his time in Afghanistan. Begs the question on whether his experiences during detention were the catalyst for transformation into an Islamist extremist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Udeen_Al-Harith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 15 minutes ago, simple1 said: Upon reading the Wikipedia entry about the OP person (converted to Islam in 1994) it would seem that he was never found to be an enemy combatant or supporter of the Taliban during his time in Afghanistan. Begs the question on whether his experiences during detention were the catalyst for transformation into an Islamist extremist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Udeen_Al-Harith He converted to Islam in 1994. I would guess if you are from the UK and in Afghanistan, you are not there for a holiday! LOL \ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/22/al-harith-case-forces-us-ask-can-deal-terrorists-cannot-convict/ Quote The death of Jamal al-Harith has brought to an end the terrorist career of a crafty and dangerous man. In his suicide he killed soldiers working to free Mosul from the Islamist tyranny that he supported, and very likely civilians too. For at least the last 17 years, al-Harith was an active agent of al-Qaeda, then Isil. When originally detained in 2001 he was on a terrorist journey to Pakistan. http://heavy.com/news/2017/02/ronald-fiddler-jamal-udeen-al-harith-abu-zakariya-al-britani-guantanamo-detainee-suicide-bombing-mosul-isis-photos-video/amp/ Quote Officials said he traveled to the Middle East extensively from 1992 to 1996, including with Abu Bakr, an al-Qaeda operative, to Sudan in 1992, during the time when Osama Bin Laden’s network was active there. He told interrogators he attended a school in Sudan, but the DOD said that school did not actually exist. “The only information they could find for foreigners to go to Khartoum, Sudan, was for Islamic studies in which a majority of the time the individuals were recruited for training in sabotage, kidnapping, improvised explosive devices and commando training,” the documents say. “According to British Embassy personnel on the scene at the Surpozza Prison when the five political prisoners were released, Jamal Al-Harith was indicated as being the ‘leader’ of the five prisoners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagnabbit Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Upon reading the Wikipedia entry about the OP person (converted to Islam in 1994) it would seem that he was never found to be an enemy combatant or supporter of the Taliban during his time in Afghanistan. Begs the question on whether his experiences during detention were the catalyst for transformation into an Islamist extremist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Udeen_Al-HarithYeah - he was probably just on a beach vacation there.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Off-topic post removed. This story has nothing to do with Trump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple1 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Dagnabbit said: Yeah - he was probably just on a beach vacation there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Actually if you read the URL he was detained by and was a prisoner of the Taliban. I have now read the content provided by Craig that was not published in the Wiki site. There is some odd info about the guy so god only knows what the facts are about his activities prior to his detention at Guantanamo as nothing proven, only allegations. Oh and before the usual clique members comment, I am not sympathetic to or a supporter of Islamic extremism, just curious about the circumstances of the individual in the OP Edited February 23, 2017 by simple1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I just want an accounting of how the million was spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerangutang Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 The article doesn't mention if anyone was killed in the attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemorechang Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) Hope all the do gooders round the world are happy with themselves now, The USA was 100% correct to imprison this type of international terrorist scum. Edited February 23, 2017 by onemorechang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LammyTS1 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 We can assume, the $1.2m of compensation went straight to ISIS and resulted in hundreds of innocent people murdered in various suicide blasts. Another UK citizen living in England & converted to Islam, resulting in tragic consequences for so many people. Yet we still need more mosques? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now