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Abdullahi Sudi Arale (; born 1964) is a citizen of
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
who was held for two and a half years in
extrajudicial detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
by the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Arale's transfer to the United States
Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
s, in Cuba, was confirmed on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Arale's capture was said to have occurred "in recent weeks". Arale was alleged to have helped courier weapons and explosives between al Qaeda elements in Pakistan and the horn of Africa. A
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
spokesman said, "We believe him to be an extremely dangerous member of the al-Qaida network," ''
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official State media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...
'' reports that American officials claimed Arale had held a leadership position in the
Somali Council of Islamic Courts The Islamic Courts Union () was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded ...
. Xinhua also reported American officials claimed Arale had been living in Pakistan until a return to Somalia, "eight months ago". On November 3, 2008, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' published a page summarizing the official documents from each captive. The New York Times stated that no further official records of his detention—no
Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...
had been published.


Habeas corpus petition

Arale has had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf.
Carol Rosenberg Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist at ''The New York Times.'' Long a military-affairs reporter at the ''Miami Herald'', from January 2002 into 2019 she reported on the operation of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, at its nav ...
attached a set of heavily redacted habeas related documents to an article she published in the ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'' about Arale when he was repatriated. A heavily redacted
Narrative for Ismael Arale A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). Na ...
stated that he said he traveled to
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
in 1999 to study, failed to get a place. He then traveled to Pakistan in 2000, where he studied at an Islamic University in
Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
, from 2000 to 2006, while working part-time as an airline ticket agent.


Repatriation

Abdullahi has two half-sisters, who were able to become refugees in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, in 1999, when they were children. His half-sisters worked to try to get Finland to offer him asylum, fearing he would be killed if he were repatriated to Somalia. In a profile in the
Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
his half-sisters said he had a wife and four children in Somalia. Two other siblings helped support his family in Somalia. The ''
Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
'' published a picture of his sister Amina Muumin holding a picture of Abdullah.
Carol Rosenberg Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist at ''The New York Times.'' Long a military-affairs reporter at the ''Miami Herald'', from January 2002 into 2019 she reported on the operation of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, at its nav ...
, writing in the ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'' reported that Ismael Arale was one of twelve men transferred from Guantanamo on December 19, 2009. The other eleven men were: Ayman Batarfi, Jamal Alawi Mari, Farouq Ali Ahmed, Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher, Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami, Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf,
Abdul Hafiz ʻAbd al-Ḥafīẓ (ALA-LC romanization of ) is a Muslim male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥafīẓ'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theoph ...
, Sharifullah, Mohamed Rahim, Mohammed Hashim and Mohamed Suleiman Barre. Abdul Hafiz, Sharifullah, Mohamed Rahim and Mohammed Hashim were
Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...
. Mohamed Suleiman Barre was the other Somali. The other six men were
Yemenis Yemenis or Yemenites () are the Citizenship, citizen population of Yemen. Genetic studies Yemen, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, serves as a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The genomes of present-day Yem ...
.


Joint Task Force Guantanamo Detainee Assessment

On April 25, 2011, Guantanamo Detainee Assessment Briefs, signed by the commandants of
Joint Task Force Guantanamo Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) is a U.S. military joint task force based at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on the southeastern end of the base. JTF-GTMO falls under US Southern Command. Since January 2002 the command ...
, released to the whistleblower organization
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
, were published by a selection of cooperating newspapers. Unlike most briefs, Abdullahi's seven page memo was unsigned.


References


External links


The Stories Of The Two Somalis Freed From Guantánamo
Andy Worthington {{DEFAULTSORT:Arale, Abdullahi Sudi 1964 births Living people Somalian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Somalian expatriates in Pakistan