As Barack Obama makes his final effort to close Guantanamo Bay detention center, two former Gitmo detainees have just been arrested in Belgium.
Prisoner #270, Moussa Zemmour, of Belgiumi was released in 2005 after being captured in Kandahar, Afghanistan and was known to be Usama bin Ladin’s #3 authority figure.
Little is known about the other Gitmo detainee also released, Soutiane (Soufian) al Hawari originally from Algeria, He was released November 8, 2008. He claims the Russian Mafia captured him and sold him to the Americans and was transferred to Kabul.
From CNN: Zemmouri was transferred to U.S. custody after he was detained by Pakistani police when fleeing Afghanistan after the beginning of the U.S. bombing campaign in autumn 2001.
The document alleged he had trained in the al Qaeda-sponsored Derunta training camp in Khost, Afghanistan. It said “sensitive reporting also indicates that detainee is a high-ranking member of the Theological Commission of the Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group (MIFG).”
According to the Belgian official, Zemmouri was put under observation after his return to Belgium. Belgian security services suspect he provided theological encouragement to several former members of the al Qaeda affiliated MIFG who left to fight jihad in Syria after they completed prison sentences in Belgian jails.
The official said there was no indication the group was plotting an attack in Belgium.
Efforts to immediately reach an attorney for Zemmouri were unsuccessful.
Zemmouri wrote a book in Dutch
Two ex-Guantanamo Inmates Charged with Terrorism in Belgium
Two former inmates at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay have been arrested in Belgium on charges of belonging to a group suspected of recruiting jihadists for Syria, prosecutors said Friday.
The pair were arrested early Thursday in connection with a burglary at an apartment near the northern Belgian port city of Antwerp, a spokesman for the prosecutor, Jean Pascal Thoreau, told AFP.
He said the police acted after monitoring the activities of Moussa Zemmouri, a 37-year-old Belgian of Moroccan origin, and an Algerian identified as Soufiane A., both of whom had been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The pair were charged with “participating in the activities of a terrorist group,” which in turn is suspected of recruiting fighters for Syria, he added.
They were also charged along with three other men with committing a burglary at night with a weapon and a vehicle, Thoreau said.
Zemmouri, who was the only one of the five not arrested at the scene, was locked up in Guantanamo from 2001 to 2005 on suspicion of belonging to the Moroccan Islamic Combattant Group (GICM), blamed for attacks in Casablanca and Madrid.
Fewer details were given for Soufiane A., whose last name was not released, but Thoreau said he is suspected of having traveled to Syria.
Between 300 and 400 Belgians are among thousands of Europeans believed to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with Islamist extremist groups.
Authorities in Europe fear a number of them could mount attacks when they return home trained in weapons use and hardened in battle.
The accused are due to reappear early next week before the Belgian authorities who will decide whether they should remain in detention.
The White House said Wednesday it is in the “final stages” of drafting a plan to close the contentious Guantanamo Bay prison and will submit it for review by lawmakers.
