Freed Guantanamo Inmate Likely With Taliban, U.S. Official Says

Abdul Hafiz, a terror suspect released from the Guantanamo Bay prison last December, likely has joined the Taliban in Afghanistan, a U.S. counterterrorism official said.

If true, it would be the first known case of a former detainee at the facility in Cuba enlisting with a terrorist group after being released by President Barack Obama’s administration.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hafiz’s role in the Taliban hasn’t been determined. And an administration official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the intelligence on Hafiz’s status remains unclear and incomplete.

The likelihood that Hafiz is with the Taliban was first reported by the Long War Journal, a Mount Laurel, New Jersey- based publication that reports on intelligence matters.

In a Feb. 1 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said all former detainees suspected or confirmed to have joined militant groups had been set free under President George W. Bush. In his letter, Brennan said 20 percent of freed Guantanamo detainees were known or suspected of having terrorist ties after their release.

The Bush administration released more than 530 detainees while the Obama administration has freed 57 so far. Guantanamo still holds 183 detainees.

Congressional Republicans have been trying to get confirmation about Hafiz.

If he has joined the Taliban, “it would tell you this is one colossal mistake” to have released him, said Representative Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “It typically takes a pretty extended period of time” to confirm such information, he said.

Linked to Murder

Hafiz, a citizen of Afghanistan, had been linked to the murder of an International Red Cross worker in Afghanistan and was working with the Taliban, according to a Defense Department memo obtained by the New York Times. When captured in April 2003, he was trying to call an al-Qaeda member involved in the Red Cross worker’s death, according to the memo.

Hafiz was sent to Guantanamo in July 2003, according to court papers filed on his behalf that sought his release and said he was denied due process. In December of 2009, he was transferred to Afghanistan with four other former detainees, according to the Justice Department.

In his letter, Brennan repeated the administration’s position that closing Guantanamo “will help our troops by eliminating a potent recruiting tool.”