Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda Bin Qumu (, born 26 June 1959) is a citizen of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

who was held 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 ...

in 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 ...

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 Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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 ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

analysts report he was born on 26 June 1959, in

Derna, Libya Derna (; ') is a port city in eastern Libya. With a population of around 90,000, Derna was once the seat of one of the wealthiest provinces among the Barbary States. The city is now the administrative capital of Derna District, which covers ...

. Bin Qumu was transferred to Libya on 28 September 2007. In 2011, he was the leader of a band of fighters in his hometown of Derna during the

2011 Libyan civil war The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

. After the war, he led the militant Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia's Derna branch.

Prior history

A disclosed file from 2005 on

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 ...

alleged that he served as a tank driver in the Libyan army. He later allegedly traveled to Afghanistan and trained in Bin Laden's Torkham Camp. After fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, he allegedly worked as a truck driver for Wadi Al-'Aqiq, one of Bin Laden's companies in Suba, Sudan. He later joined the

Libyan Islamic Fighting Group The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), also known as ''Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya'' (), was an armed Islamist group. Militants participated in the 2011 Libyan Civil War as the Libyan Islamic Movement (''al-Harakat al-Islami ...

, joined the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

in 1998, and he was a "probable member of

Al Qaida {{Infobox war faction , name = Al-Qaeda , native_name = {{Script, Arabic, القاعدة , native_name_lang = ar , war = {{Collapsible list , title={{Nbsp , {{Plainlist, * War on Terror * Afghanistan conf ...

and a member of the African Extremist Network."

Repatriation and release

Bin Qumu was reported to have been released in October 2007. He was transferred to Libya on 28 September 2007 and was released from

Abu Salim prison Abu Salim prison () is a maximum security prison in Tripoli, Libya. The prison was notorious during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi for alleged mistreatment and human rights abuses, including a massacre in 1996 in which Human Rights Watch estimat ...

in 2010 following an amnesty for political prisoners.

Libyan Civil War

In 2011, Bin Qumu became the leader of a band of fighters in his hometown of Derna called

Ansar al-Sharia Ansar al-Sharia or Ansar al-Shariah is a name used by a collection of radical or militant Islamist groups or militias, in at least eight countries. While they share names and ideology, they lack a unified command structure. *Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen ...

during the

. It was reported that Bin Qumu was possibly involved with, and may have led, the 11 September 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which four US Diplomats were killed including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. A US national security official subsequently stated to '' Mother Jones'': " hereport is wrong, there's no intelligence suggesting that he was leading the attack on the consulate that evening." However, other US officials have since confirmed that Bin Qumu was likely present and played a role in the attack. On 10 January 2014, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

listed Bin Qumu as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

. On 17 June 2018,

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

reported that bin Qumu was taken into custody when the Libyan Army captured the last stronghold of Ansar al-Sharia, in Derna. They reported he had not played a prominent role in the organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bin Qumu, Abu Sufian 1959 births Living people People from Derna, Libya Libyan Islamists Libyan extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Guantanamo detainees known to have been released People of the Libyan civil war (2011) Leaders of jihadist groups