FORMER GUANTANAMO DETAINEE IN QATARI CUSTODY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 000527 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM KPAO KAWC QA SUBJECT: FORMER GUANTANAMO DETAINEE IN QATARI CUSTODY REF: DOHA 417 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Former GTMO detainee Jarallah al-Marri was transferred to Qatari custody on Sunday, July 27 at 1230 hrs local time. Legatt met the USAF aircraft on arrival at Doha International Airport and witnessed al-Marri's transfer to officials of Qatar State Security. Qatari authorities brought al-Marri through the main airport terminal and led him to a car curbside in front of the arrivals terminal. A Qatari video cameraman filmed the arrival. The entire process went smoothly. With his release, no Qataris are currently being held at GTMO. His brother Ali, however, remains in detention at the Charleston, South Carolina, Naval Brig. ¶2. (C) Embassy received several inquiries on July 27 from the Qatar Human Rights Commission, following up on requests from al-Marri's family for verification that al-Marri had arrived in Qatar. The Human Rights Commission was referred to the GOQ. ¶3. (U) All but one of Qatar,s seven local newspapers carried short, factual articles on al-Marri,s return. Three Arabic-language dailies featured front-page coverage, while the fourth Arabic daily ran the story on its inside pages. English-language daily "Gulf-Times" ran virtually the same text as the Arabic newspapers, including that "no condemning evidence was produced against" al-Marri &nor was he sent to any trial." "Gulf Times" also quoted al-Marri's family members citing their relief at his release, and their desire to see his brother, Ali al-Marri, released from U.S. detention soon. ¶4. (U) Al Jazeera Network's Arabic news channel ran a short story with a video clip of al-Marri at Doha International Airport at the top of its afternoon news bulletin on July 27. The text of the bulletin was virtually identical to that ran in the Qatari Arabic-language dailies: al-Marri was held in Guantanamo since his arrest upon leaving Afghanistan in late 2001, no evidence was entered against him, and he has not stood trial. On July 28, Al Jazeera continued to mention al-Marri's return in its news crawl. RATNEY