A Guantanamo Bay detainee who was released after cutting a deal in 2010 with the Obama administration has emerged in the war on terror as a leader of an al-Qaida branch in Yemen, a discovery one New York lawmaker calls a "disgraceful" commentary on the White House.
"Decision to release Ibrahim al Qosi from Guantanamo is disgraceful," tweeted Rep. Pete King, Republican from New York.
As Red State reported, Qosi had been imprisoned at Gitmo for eight years when he cut a deal in 2010 with the Justice Department. Two years later, he was released from the detention facility.
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His release was opposed not only by King, but by several others in the military and intelligence community.
As Red State reported: "A leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment and other declassified files documented Qosi's extensive al Qaeda dossier. In the threat assessment, dated Nov. 15, 2007, US intelligence analysis described Qosi as a 'high' risk to the US and its allies. 'Detainee is an admitted veteran jihadist with combat experience beginning in 1990 and it is assessed he would engage in hostilities against US forces, if released,' JTF-GTMO found."
And in the time since his release, Qosi has done just that. The Long War Journal reported Qosi, who also goes by Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani, now leads the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, in Yemen, as a video released by the terror group this week indicates.
The video also indicates Qosi joined AQAP in 2014 as one of its leaders, and has since encouraged "attacks by individual adherents and smaller terror cells," Red State reported.
Long War Journal reported Qosi pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors on terror-tied investigations. He was transferred to Sudan, his home country, in July 2012.
The revelation comes in the face of Obama's long-running vow to shutter Gitmo and transfer all the inmates to other locations – an effort he's been underscoring with several recent releases.