VZCZCXRO6765
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTRO #0455/01 1631601
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 111601Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3519
INFO RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 4025
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000455
NOFORN
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR S/WCI (AMB. WILLIAMSON) AND NEA/MAG (NARDI, JOHNSON)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/11/2018
TAGS: KBTR PREL PGOV PHUM PTER PINR PINS LY
SUBJECT: LIBYA: MEETING WITH RETURNED GTMO DETAINEES UNDER USG-GOL TRANSFER FRAMEWORK MOU
REF: A) STATE 14270, B) 07 TRIPOLI 1060, C) 07 STATE 163961, D) 07 TRIPOLI 723, E) 07 STATE 77783, F) 07 STATE 163961
CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, U.S. Embassy - Tripoli, Dept of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (c), (d)
1. (S/NF) Summary: Post visited two returned Guantanamo detainees to confirm their welfare and whereabouts, and the
legal basis on which they are being detained in Libya. One detainee's trial has been completed and he is awaiting a
verdict on the four charges he faces; the case of the second detainee is expected to go to trial in the next two to
three months. End summary.
2. (S/NF) At a June 10 meeting, P/E Chief interviewed separately returned Guantanamo detainees Muhammad Abdallah Mansur
al-Rimi (AKA Abdul Salam Abdul Omar Sufrani, ISN 194) and Ben Qumu Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamouda (ISN 557) per ref A
instructions. The meeting took place at a GOL security service facility in Tripoli, and was attended by a host
government security official. The last visit to the two returned detainees took place on December 25, 2007 (ref B). ISN
194
3. (S/NF) Al-Rimi (ISN 194), who was returned to Libya in December 2006, said he had been detained at an External
Security Organization (ESO) detention facility between December 2006 and June 2007, when he was transferred to the Abu
Salim prison, located in the Tripoli suburbs. The security official explained that the Abu Salim prison is controlled
and managed by military police; it is the facility at which terrorists, extremists and other individuals deemed to be
particularly dangerous to state security are detained. Al-Rimi said he remains in solitary detention in a 15 foot by 15
foot cell and has not been mistreated. He is able to walk outside regularly, and is able to speak with other prisoners
during exercise periods. He is provided with drinking water, tea and three meals a day. He does not have access to
books, radio or television. He has access to medications and has been visited by a prison doctor on the occasions when
he has been ill. Al-Rimi stated that members of his family have visited him three times since his return to Libya, most
recently in March 2008. (Note: As reported ref D, their previous visits were in January and May 2007. End note.)
4. (S/NF) Asked about the condition of his arm and his teeth, about which he had previously complained (ref D), al-Rimi
said both were better. He repeated his earlier claim (ref A) that he sustained the injury to his arm in 2004 or 2005
during a scuffle with U.S. soldiers who entered his cell to punish him for allegedly instigating a disturbance among
several other prisoners.
5. (S/NF) Asked for his understanding of the legal basis on which he is being held and the status/schedule of any legal
proceedings against him, al-Rimi said he was questioned by the ESO and Internal Security Organization (ISO) officials
between his return in December 2006 and February 2008, when his case was transferred to the Prosecutor General's office.
His case has subsequently been been tried and is currently with a panel of judges, who are reviewing it. His
understanding is that he faces four charges: 1) membership in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group; 2) membership in
al-Qaeda; 3) forging a passport and travel documents and using them to exit the country, and; 4) failing to secure
permission to exit the country when he left to fight in Afghanistan. Al-Rimi has court-appointed legal counsel. The
Prosecutor General's Office told al-Rimi and his attorney that the court was expected to render a verdict in his case
on/about June 16. A verdict had been expected on/about May 5; however, the trial was delayed. Al-Rimi does not know how
long his prison sentence could be if convicted of one or more of the charges he faces; however, he claimed his attorney
told him he stood a good chance of being acquitted and released. ISN 557
6. (S/NF) Hamouda (ISN 557), who was returned to Libya in August 2007, said he had been detained at an ESO detention
facility for three months and was then transferred to the Abu Salim prison. He currently remains at Abu Salim, but
understands he may be transferred next month to the Jdeida prison, which houses common criminals, in Ain Zaraa. He has
been held in solitary detention since his return - his biggest complaint - and said he has not been mistreated. (Note:
The security official explained that detention protocols for extremists and terrorists mandate that they be held in
solitary detention to preclude the possibility that they could recruit other members of the prison population for
extremist activities. End note.) He is not able to exercise at the Abu Salim prison, but was able to do so at the ESO
facility before he was transferred. He is provided with drinking water, tea and three meals a day. He does not have
TRIPOLI 00000455 002 OF 002 access to books, radio or television. He has access to medications and has been told he may
be visited by a prison doctor if he is ill, but has not had need of one. Hamouda has had two visits by members of his
family since his return: his wife and children visited in late December, and his wife and brother-in-law in January. He
complained that his family had not visited since, but said he he did not know whether they had tried. (Note: He conceded
that his wife had divorced him and remarried, and that relations between them were difficult; however, after the second
visit, permission for further visits had to be obtained from the Prosecutor General's office, vice ISO. He speculated
that the Prosecutor General's office may have been less efficient in processing visit requests. End note.)
7. (S/NF) Asked for his understanding of the legal basis on which he is being held and the status/schedule of any legal
proceedings against him, Hamouda said he was questioned by ESO and ISO officials between his return in August 2007 and
May 2008, when his case was transferred to the Prosecutor General's Office. His understanding is that he faces three
charges: 1) membership in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group; 2) membership in al-Qaeda, and; 3) that he performed
illicit work for a private company in Sudan and Afghanistan. He also faces charges related to a drug trafficking offense
for which he was convicted and imprisoned in the early 1990's. According to the security official, Hamouda escaped from
prison and left Libya illegally in 1992 to travel to Sudan; he may/may face separate charges for escaping and leaving
the country. Hamouda has no legal counsel, but said he does not want an attorney because he has committed no crimes.
Claiming that if he were really a member of al-Qaeda " ~ the U.S. would have never returned me to Libya ~ ", he said his
impression is that all of the charges against him are based entirely on hearsay from witnesses whose credibility is
suspect. He has been told by the Prosecutor General that his trial may start in two to three months. Hamouda does not
know how long his prison sentence could be if convicted for one or more of the charges he faces; however, he claimed
that he had been granted a pardon by the Qadhafi Development Foundation for the original drug trafficking conviction and
his subsequent escape from prison and illegal exit from Libya.