LIBYA: TRANSFER OF GTMO DETAINEE

1. (U) This is an action cable; please see paragraph six.



2. (S) Summary: The Deputies Committee (DC) concluded on August 23
that DoD should transfer Guantanamo detainee Ben Qumu Abu Sufian
Ibrahim Ahmed Hamouda (ISN-557) to Libya on the next Detainee
Movement Operation (DMO), which is scheduled to occur on or about
September 26. The decision to transfer Hamouda is based, in part, on
a USG interagency assessment that he is returning to Libya
voluntarily. The decision to transfer Hamouda does not override the
ref A request for additional information regarding detainee Muhammad
Abdallah Mansur al-Rimi's (ISN-194) possible left hand/arm injury and
tooth loss. DoD supports a GOL request to visit the Libyan national
detainees remaining at Guantanamo for law enforcement and/or
intelligence collection purposes. See action requests at paragraph
six. End summary.



3. (S) The assessment that Hamouda is returning to Libya voluntarily
is based on several factors specific to his case, including but not
limited to the following:

-- Hamouda's counsel's unsolicited contact with a DOJ attorney in
June 2007, through which counsel represented to DOJ that Hamouda was
"okay to go back [i.e., to Libya]";

-- Counsel's September 10 representations to DOJ and State Department
attorneys that, if the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR -- a
detainee advocacy group that employs Hamouda's counsel as a staff
attorney) learned that the USG intended to transfer Hamouda to Libya,
CCR would not pursue legal action to block the transfer, as it
previously has done when it learned that the USG intended to transfer
to Libya other individuals detained at Guantanamo who did not wish to
return;

-- Hamouda's September 19 representations to JTF-GTMO judge advocates
that he was not afraid of returning to Libya and that he would go to
Libya; and

-- Hamouda's representations to the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) on this matter. ICRC officials informally confirmed
that Hamouda previously told them that he wished to return to Libya
and had no fears about returning. ICRC officials met with Hamouda
again on September 19 to confirm this fact; during this interview, he
expressed his willingness to be repatriated to Libya.



4. (S) The decision to transfer Hamouda to Libya is based on the
specific circumstances of his case. The voluntary nature of his
return and the other factors noted above mitigate, in his case,
concerns that remain with respect to other transfers to Libya.



5. (S) The non-governmental Qadhafi Development Foundation (QDF) has
requested access to all Libyan national detainees remaining at
Guantanamo (refs B and C). The QDF purportedly made the request on
behalf of the GOL. DoD supports a GOL request to visit other Libyan
national detainees remaining at Guantanamo for law enforcement and/or
intelligence collection purposes, but DoD cannot provide such access
to non-governmental QDF representatives, in accordance with DoD
policy.



6. (S) Post is requested to:

-- Notify the GOL of the decision to transfer Hamouda to Libya on the
next DMO, which is scheduled to occur on or about September 26;

-- Advise the GOL that DoD supports a GOL request to visit the Libyan
national detainees remaining at Guantanamo for law enforcement and/or
intelligence collection purposes and is prepared to schedule such a
visit upon receipt of a formal request from appropriate GOL
officials, via approved channels; and

-- Leverage the decision to transfer Hamouda and the GOL's interest
in visiting Guantanamo as a means to obtain additional information
regarding al-Rimi's possible left hand/arm injury and tooth loss.



7. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.
RICE