ISN# 068 – 19 pages – Detainee: X (not named) (Saudi)

Reasons for Detention:

Associated with Jama’at al Tabligh (an Islamic missionary organization commonly used as an Al Qaeda cover). Captured by Pakistani forces with group of Al Qaeda mujahedin. His name was on a list of Al Qaeda mujehedin seized from an Al Qaeda safehouse in Pakistan.

Detainee’s position:

Denies being a member of Jama’at al Tabligh. Says he was arrested at the airport travelling from Afghanistan to Pakistan with no passport.

He says that he is a high school graduate and works for the chamber of commerce. He claimed to have been on a one month summer vacation devoted to a personal mission correcting Islamic errors (which he later extended). He started in Dubai, and then proceeded to Pakistan for three months, then to Afghanistan for one month. He says his passport was stolen. Claimed complete ignorance of Al Qaeda and Taliban.

JDZ Conclusions:

This detainee has a great deal more to say than the others. But his story of readily expandable vacations, random travel decisions, and ignorance of politics is not compelling. What is a Saudi doing in Afghanistan at the time of the US invasion, other than being a jihadi?

There is a possibility that he is telling the truth, but some actual evidence and the weight of the circumstances are completely against him. I would not release before the conclusion of hostilities.